Opinion ID: 1467545
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Judicial Intimidation of Defense Witness

Text: At the conclusion of the government's case, counsel for appellant told the court that he would call Charles Miller as a defense witness and that Miller would recant his grand jury testimony that appellant had confessed to the murder of Wilson. The court ordered counsel to bring Miller's attorney into court to confer with his client before he exposed himself to prosecution for perjury by so testifying. After the attorney informed the court that Miller would testify, the trial judge advised Miller of his Fifth Amendment rights and that anything to which he testified could be used against him in another proceeding. The judge further explained the penalty for perjury. Following a weekend recess, the prosecutor told the court that he had no evidence which implicated Miller in this case. He further said that Miller, who had been a government witness before the government decided not to call him, had expressed concern for his safety and that of his family if he testified. Miller's attorney then said that in spite of the prosecutor's proffer, his client had decided to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege and face a contempt charge, if necessary. No evidence was proffered to demonstrate that Miller had cause to fear prosecution. The court subsequently ruled that Miller had no grounds for invoking the Fifth Amendment privilege. After asking Miller personally if he would testify, and being told that he would not, the court held him in contempt. Relying upon Webb v. Texas, supra, 409 U.S. at 98, 93 S.Ct. at 353, appellant asserts that the trial court intimidated his witness, Charles Miller, and thus deprived him of his Sixth Amendment right to the compulsory process of witnesses. In Webb v. Texas, supra , the Supreme Court reversed the conviction, finding that the trial judge had threatened and harassed the sole defense witness, causing him to decline to testify. There is no evidence here that the trial court threatened or harassed Charles Miller. The court sought to insure that the witness was fully aware of his potential criminal liability by requiring that Miller's attorney come to court to confer with his client; and by personally informing Miller of his Fifth Amendment rights, and that his testimony could be used against him in subsequent proceedings, including prosecutions for perjury. Unlike the trial court in Webb, the court's remarks were not coercive or threatening; they were pointedly informational. Under these circumstances, we cannot conclude that the trial court intimidated the witness and deterred him from testifying. [9]