Can I "plead the 5th" Even though I was supoenad to Court as a Victim?

Question

I'd rather have nothing to do with the whole situation.
It happened months ago and I just got called to court and I do not want to go, And its 1 day before my wedding.
What are my rights?

Answer 1

Legally you are required to go when supboenaed. You cannot "plead the 5th" unless the testimony elicited will incriminate you in criminal activity. Since you are the victim, that does not seem to be the case. As a practical matter, whether they will prosecute you for not showing is another matter. Some jurisdictions have gotten tough on domestic violence prosecutions and do force the victims to attend. Call the office of the prosecuting or district attorney and tell them that your wedding is the day after the scheduled court appearance and you cannot make it. Tell them also that you do not wish to pursue this matter further. They should enter into a plea arrangement with the defendant based on that and you may not have to appear.

I hope you are not marrying the defendant . . .

Good luck.

Answer 2

You can only plead the fifth if your testimony is self-incriminating.

If the date/calendar is a bit in the future you can contact the judge through the court clerk and explain that you are getting married and would like to postpone giving your testimony untill after the wedding. It is conceivable, and not uncommon, that other testimony ahead of you or court procedures, delay your taking the stand a day or so. Or, your testimony goes long and you need to return the next day. You will then be in the courthouse testifying and not getting married, period.

If you do not answer the questions posed ypu will be directed to d so unless it violates your 5th amendment rights. If you refuse or obscure or deny or pretend you do not know, you can be cited right there and then with contempt of court. This is on the spot and no trial to cite you. The fine can be hefty, $500, $2,000 or hwatever the judge wants. He can have you placed into a cell until you cooperate.

If you do not show up you the judge can issue a bench warrant for your arrest. If your wedding interferes, your testmony goes long and into the next day, and you do not reture...bench warrant and contempt fines etc, etc.

You had better handle this.

Answer 3

The 5th amendement is just there to protect you from encriminating yourself in a courtcase. If you went and you didn't do anything and you just didn't want to talk about it you would purge yourself and you can go to jail.

If you get supoenaed you need to go to court. The best you can do is to talk to lawyer or judge and say you have a wedding then next day and they might be able move you back if possibil. If you do not show up after being supoenaed you will be brought to court and possibily serve jail time. Judges and laywers are people so if they understand that you have a wedding they might let it slip for a week or so. But honestly I'd rather get supoenaed the day before my wedding than the day after during my honeymoon.

Answer 4

If you are subpoenaed, you have to go and you have to testify. You can refuse to answer a question if the answer will tend to incriminate you in a crime (plead the 5th), but it doesn't sound like that applies to you. You should be able to work with the prosecutor to schedule your testimony at a more convenient time (and I realize that "convenient" is a relative term in these situations). If it helps, most criminal cases are plead out prior to trial, so it may not even happen.

Answer 5

If you are subpoenaed, you must appear, although you may explain the particulars about it being just a day before your wedding so perhaps they could delay your appearance.

However, wanting to have nothing to do with it will not get you out of it, unfortunately.

As for "pleading the 5th," actually read the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, which basically says that you do not have to testify against yourself. Just be sure you know what that means.

I am not a lawyer. Do you need one, perhaps?

Answer 6

That is absolutly horrible! I am really hoping that you got the facts wrong because for something as barbaric as tha to be happening in our world today is absolutly frightening. It is a story you would expect to hear in history, not in modern days where everyone is supposed to be accepting of each other! I really hope that this woman is ok because to go through such an ordeal like being raped and then to be blamed for it has got to be the most horrible thing in the world. You hear stories about rape victims who, even if their rapist has been convicted, are going through extreme emotional pain. I can't even imagine how much worse it would be for this poor woman. It really makes me worry about our world and why their are these kind of people who still can't accept that everyone is equal.

Answer 7

The 5th is to protect you if you did some thing wrong. if you are the victim don`t you want to stop this person from doing the same thing to some one else? remember how you felt when it happened to you. do the write thing and put him/her in the place they need to be, or get them the help they need.

Answer 8

Your responsibility is to testify to what you know. You say you are a victim, don't you think you should make sure there are no more victims like you out there? This is a very selfish mentality. You have a duty to testify to the truth.

Answer 9

Yes but it'll make you look like a guilty party to the crime.

Many people don't bother showing up in many 'minor' cases, including the police officers filing the initial report.

Stay back in the audience until you see if the officers and others are there - in their absence, the judge may dismiss the case or hold it over to another day if it's really serious.

Answer 10

You do have to appear or a bench warrant will be assessed against you. and as far as the 5th, it is only allowed to not incriminate yourself, not to refuse to answer questions asked by both the prosecution and the defense.