Can I Exercise My Right To Remain Silent

A friend of mine witnessed a shooting up close in a hotel lobby. Two men came in and one of them shot a guy in the lobby. The guy in the lobby shot back and killed one of the aggressors (the one without a gun).

My friend witnessed this up close and she is very distraught about it. The guy that returned fire killed the other guy and wasn't supposed to have a firearm. She has to go to court for him. The other guy that shot the guy in the lobby is going to court for attempting murder so she has to go to court for him.

Every time she has to go she relives the incident and now she is on medication for anxiety and other mental problems caused by this.

My question is can she exercise her right to remain silent and let the prosecutor know that that is what she is going to do every time he makes her go to court so he might as well stop making her go?

originally posted by: Alien Abduct
A friend of mine witnessed a shooting up close in a hotel lobby. Two men came in and one of them shot a guy in the lobby. The guy in the lobby shot back and killed one of the aggressors (the one without a gun).

My friend witnessed this up close and she is very distraught about it. The guy that returned fire killed the other guy and wasn't supposed to have a firearm. She has to go to court for him. The other guy that shot the guy in the lobby is going to court for attempting murder so she has to go to court for him.

Every time she has to go she relives the incident and now she is on medication for anxiety and other mental problems caused by this.

My question is can she exercise her right to remain silent and let the prosecutor know that that is what she is going to do every time he makes her go to court so he might as well stop making her go?

I am sick and tired of these minimalist threads.

Laws vary around the world, what country? Federal or State court?

What state?

Your location is Earth, very good, well done, you got the Planet right!

How do you expect an answer?

P

Perhaps a victim/witness advocate can help, especially if the incident has caused her to seek mental health treatment.

a reply to: Alien Abduct

Well, she may not agree with what I'm about to say now, but her seeing this through regardless will give her some much needed closure in the end.

Either look at it that way, or ball up and take the obstruction, contempt or falsifying a statement charge.

🤷🏾‍♂️

The purpose of a trial is to get to the truth. If a person stays silent, then they are disrupting that intent and should be found in contempt.

Sorry, but your friend needs to attend court and say what happened. Justice can then be done.

If your friend needs help, then surely there are services to support victims and witnesses? Your friend needs to separate the "bad experience" from getting justice done.

originally posted by: Alien Abduct
A friend of mine witnessed a shooting up close in a hotel lobby. Two men came in and one of them shot a guy in the lobby. The guy in the lobby shot back and killed one of the aggressors (the one without a gun).

My friend witnessed this up close and she is very distraught about it. The guy that returned fire killed the other guy and wasn't supposed to have a firearm. She has to go to court for him. The other guy that shot the guy in the lobby is going to court for attempting murder so she has to go to court for him.

Every time she has to go she relives the incident and now she is on medication for anxiety and other mental problems caused by this.

My question is can she exercise her right to remain silent and let the prosecutor know that that is what she is going to do every time he makes her go to court so he might as well stop making her go?

Literally impossible to answer. Not enough information given.

What country are you in. Was she subpoenaed because someone pointed her out as a witness or did she voluntarily turn herself in as a witness. Did she not ask the attorney this question?

Not enough info given to answer this.

a reply to: Alien Abduct

Well, somewhere along the line your "friend" must have told someone she saw something because otherwise she wouldn't be called as a witness. If she would have just said...."I din't see nuttin'!"...right at the very start she'd be sitting on the couch drinking a cold one right now.

So, seems to me, she ignored her 'right to remain silent' right at the very beginning of all this, and this is the root of her problems now!

ETA - You know, there's a real valuable message to be learned here. People will say the damndest things in a high-stress environment. Law enforcement knows this, and they capitalize on it. Often, people feel compelled to get involved, their egos drive them to it; they want to be part of all the attention. They don't know it, but their best course of action is to just SHUT THEIR PIE HOLE and walk away. If, after thinking about it, with a clearer mind, they feel like they want to talk to someone about what they saw, LATER, then they should do so. Until then, they should just remain silent. You might want to remind your friend of this.

originally posted by: EternalShadow
a reply to: Alien Abduct

...
Either look at it that way, or ball up and take the obstruction, contempt or falsifying a statement charge.

Remind me not to retain you as my attorney and counsel!

LOL!!

a reply to: pheonix358

The U.S.A. It doesn't matter if it is federal or state because it is a constitutional right.

If you are lacking any other vital information from my minimalist thread that you need for your expert opinion please press 0 and hold indefinitely.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: Alien Abduct

Well, somewhere along the line your "friend" must have told someone she saw something because otherwise she wouldn't be called as a witness. If she would have just said...."I din't see nuttin'!"...right at the very start she'd be sitting on the couch drinking a cold one right now.

So, seems to me, she ignored her 'right to remain silent' right at the very beginning of all this, and this is the root of her problems now!

ETA - You know, there's a real valuable message to be learned here. People will say the damndest things in a high-stress environment. Law enforcement knows this, and they capitalize on it. Often, people feel compelled to get involved, their egos drive them to it; they want to be part of all the attention. They don't know it, but their best course of action is to just SHUT THEIR PIE HOLE and walk away. If, after thinking about it, with a clearer mind, they feel like they want to talk to someone about what they saw, LATER, then they should do so. Until then, they should just remain silent. You might want to remind your friend of this.

Best answer yet. Thanks.

a reply to: Alien Abduct

A friend of mine witnessed a shooting up close in a hotel lobby.

My question is can she exercise her right to remain silent and let the prosecutor know that that is what she is going to do every time he makes her go to court so he might as well stop making her go?

Your friend is a witness to a crime. She can be compelled to reveal what she saw under oath in court.

The 5th Amendment, which guarantees the right to remain silent, only applies if that testimony would incriminate your friend in a crime. Since she did not commit a crime, and only witnessed it, her right to remain silent does not apply. That is, if we're talking about an American court.

a reply to: Sookiechacha

Ummmm....No, the 5th Amendment does nothing of the sort. The 5th Amendment only allows you to remain silent so as not to incriminate YOURSELF, not someone else.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

That's what I said. The 5th Amendment doesn't apply to her, and she can be compelled to testify under oath, because her testimony would not incriminate her in a crime.

Here's a good example of what I was talking about in my first post...

Let's say you walk out of a grocery store, and in the parking lot you see an altercation to your left between a man and a woman in front of a liquor store. The two begin physically fighting, and the woman suddenly screams "HELP!....HELP!...HE'S ATTACKING ME! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!" The woman pulls out a knife and starts slashing at the man. The man pulls out a pistol and aims it at the woman. Before he can fire a shot, two gunshots ring out in quick succession from behind a nearby parked car. The man fighting with the woman falls to the pavement, fatally wounded. The man behind the parked car stands up and you notice he is your next door neighbor and friend.

Soon the police arrive and start investigating. They come up to you.

What did you just see?

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What you just witnessed was a good Samaritan mistakenly killing an undercover police officer who was in the process of arresting a known prostitute, armed with a knife, who was resisting arrest for narcotics trafficking.

What did you "think" you saw?

Imagine how your statements and testimony would differ if you knew the facts behind what really happened before you spoke up.