testifying in court?

Question

if i dont want to testify against my friend in court, do i not have to go to court or do i go and not say anything

i wasnt subpoenaed, my friend is getting charged for contributing to me, im not the one who wants to get him into trouble, the cops do.

Answer 1

If you are subpoenaed you are required to appear in court and testify. If you refuse to answer, you could be treated as hostile and the line of questioning will change to leading questions and they will eventually get your testimony.

Protecting your friend could get you into more trouble than you are now. I suggest you think everything through completely before you make a decision to not answer.

5th amendment guarantee against self incrimination probabaly does not apply here as suggested in previous posts. Typically, there are statutes which exempt the victim or minor from prosecution if they are the target of the offense.

Since you indicate your friend is being charged with contributing to you, I assume delinquency of a minor?? You would be the victim of the offense and typically immune from prosecution. Talk to an attorney.

Answer 2

You will only be compelled to testify if you are served with a legal document called a subpoena. You have to be handed that document by someone.

Failure to appear in court when subpoenaed is illegal and called contempt of court. You can be arrested and forced to appear, a warrant will be out for your arrest, you may even have to do some jail time.

If you have to appear in court then talk with your friend's lawyer; you could be a good character witness, but if you are put on the stand then you will have to answer all the questions put to you, with the truth. Talk with the lawyer first, but if your friend doesn’t have a lawyer then you might want to take a short vacation. If you cannot be found to be served then you will not have to appear in court. This is an old legal trick, but it still works. To serve a subpoena you must be physically handed the written document. If you don’t get the document then you can claim you did not know about the subpoena. Of course doing this is a violation of the law in principle and process servers are very clever when it comes to tracking people down to serve them a subpoena. Make sure to let the prosecutor finish a question and be very specific and short in your answer. Do not volunteer any information. For example the question "Do you know what time it is?" If you can see a clock or watch should not be answered with the time, but with the word "Yes."

It is true loyalty to not want to testify against your friend, but if you are asked to testify then you have no choice, but to testify and if you lie while testifying then that crime is called perjury and punishable with up to 5 years in jail.

Answer 3

You most likely are being called as a witness. If you were subpoenaed to court you have no option but to appear. If you fail to appear you may be found in "Contempt of Court" which is not worth it.

You need to talk to your friend before you go to court and explain that you have no option. I'm sure as a friend, she will understand!

If you attempt to lie on the stand, you can be further charged with "contempt" or "perjury!"

Instead of compounding a problem...let the judge do his job by weighing ALL the facts presented by ALL parties involved. Not saying what the case is about makes it a bit more difficult to elaborate however, the ol' saying "the truth shall set you free" is certainly appropriate here. Be honest and answer all the questions to the point without added elaboration.

Welcome to the adult world!

Best wishes!

Answer 4

According to the law, if you are called as a witness, you have to testify truthfully - you can't lie and you can't refuse to show up - both are violations of the law in the sense that they impede the court and thus the assumed process of justice.

You can't use the fifth amendment unless testifying would incriminate you. You can't refuse to testify unless you are married to, in this case, your friend. You don't have to offer testimony, but the court can compel you to provide it through summons or subpoena.

You could IN THEORY use it when you get the yes or not kinds of answers that don't allow you to testify completely - you are asked to swear and oath to tell the truth, THE WHOLE TRUTH and nothing but the truth. If you are asked a yes or no question that can be easily spun around and interpreted in a way you didn't intend, then you would be violating your oath to tell the WHOLE truth.

Good luck trying this and NOT getting in trouble for causing problems in the court though.... Unless the defense is on the ball and backs you up through cross examination.

Sticky issue and I don't envy you. Also, I'm not a lawyer so take this with a grain of salt. :)

Note based on your details: If you haven't been served a subpoena, you don't have to worry about it.

If you have, then if its a case of contributing to you, as in contributing to your delinquency, then you could plead the fifth as admitting your friend did contribute would also be admitting you did something wrong to.

"Did your friend compel you or pressure you to burn that building down? Yes or no please..." "I plead the fifth."

Why do they ask for a yes or no answer? Because saying yes OR saying no could be used against you - the question implies that you did in fact burn down a building regardless if your friend pleasured you or not. Allowing for a yes or no only puts you in the position of either answering yes or no - implicating yourself by preventing you from saying you didn't burn the building down in the first place - or being in contempt for not answering the question as asked by a court officer.... or you can plead the 5th.

If you answer 'yes' - it could be construed that you did burn down the building even though you might have meant your friend tried to pressure you but was unsuccessful.

If you answer 'no' - it could be construed that you burned down the building and your friend didn't pressure you at all even though you might have meant there was no pressure from your friend AND you didn't burn the building down.

Either way, it could be construed that you did burn a building down and you could be charged with that crime after your friend's trial. This is why lawyers are paid so much - at trial, they are good at coming up with questions that can be easily spun to whatever conclusion they want regardless of the answer. Before trial, they are good at using the threat of using that ability to get what they want... at least when it comes to criminal proceedings. This is also why everyone hates lawyers until they need one themselves.

This of course is just an example - you might have meant just about anything when you said "contribute to"

Answer 5

If you've been subpoenaed, you HAVE to go and testify. If you don't show up you're in big trouble, you could be charged with contempt of court and go to jail.

Your choice.

Answer 6

you can be subpoenaed to testify against your Friend, you really don't have to answer the questions the attorney asks of you, however depending upon the instances you may be found in contempt of court. Pleading the fifth only applies to self incrimination.

Answer 7

If you were subpoenaed, yes you have to go and testify, or you could be found in contempt of court. If you weren't subpoenaed, stay away from it and keep your mouth closed.

Answer 8

The Court can order you to testify under the penalties of law

Answer 9

If you receive a subpoenae you have to go and you have to tell the whole truth or else you can be charged with purjury or contempt of court.

Answer 10

It all depends if your testifying for the defense or the prosecution, or what kind of case it is and how your involved.??? Need a little more info??