Can a witness invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination at trial?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Camberos, B258188 (Cal. App. 2016):

Initially, we note that allowing a witness's invocation of his or her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination may support a claim of evidentiary error but not necessarily of constitutional infirmity. (See Namet v. United States (1963) 373 U.S. 179, 185, 187; see also Carmell v. Texas (2000) 529 U.S. 513, 533, fn. 23 ["by simply permitting evidence to be admitted at trial, [evidentiary rules] do not at all subvert the presumption of innocence, because they do not concern whether the admissible evidence is sufficient to overcome the presumption"].)

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