Opinion ID: 1199062
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sandra B.'s Invocation of the Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Self-incrimination

Text: Defendant subpoenaed Sandra B. to testify at the guilt phase of his trial. Like defendant, Sandra was charged with the murder of James. At a court hearing outside the jury's presence (see Evid. Code, § 402) the defense questioned Sandra, who refused to respond, asserting her privilege against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment of the federal Constitution. Sandra informed the court that, on the advice of counsel, she would invoke the privilege in response to any question asked by defendant. The trial court denied defendant's request to compel Sandra B. to invoke the privilege against self-incrimination in front of the jury. (11) Defendant contends that the court's ruling violated his constitutional rights to due process and to present a defense. He argues that Sandra's interests could not have been infringed by telling the jury of Sandra's invocation of her Fifth Amendment rights. He is wrong. Evidence Code section 913, subdivision (a) prohibits the trial court and counsel from commenting on a witness's assertion of a privilege. It further provides that the trier of fact may not draw any inference [from the assertion of a privilege] as to the credibility of the witness or as to any matter at issue in the proceeding. And Evidence Code section 913, subdivision (b) requires the court, at the request of an adversely affected party, to instruct the jury that it may not draw any inferences from the exercise of a privilege as to the credibility of a witness or as to any matter at issue in the proceeding. The statutory prohibition applies to witnesses as well as parties litigant. Defendant's request that the trial court compel Sandra B. to invoke the privilege in the presence of the jury was in direct violation of Evidence Code section 913. The court's refusal to do so was therefore proper. Defendant argues that Evidence Code section 913 infringes upon his constitutional rights to due process and to present a defense. Defendant's argument is based on his assumption that Sandra B.'s invocation of the privilege against self-incrimination would allow the jury to draw the inference that it was Sandra, not defendant, who had killed James. But, as explained below, it would have been improper for the jury to draw such an inference. A person may invoke the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination for a reason other than guilt. The privilege may be asserted, for example, simply to insure that the prosecution against a person charged with a crime is not helped by that person's own statements. Thus, inferring guilt from the mere exercise of the privilege would be improper and is at best based on speculation, not evidence. (See e.g., People v. Frierson (1991) 53 Cal.3d 730, 743 [280 Cal. Rptr. 440, 808 P.2d 1197]; People v. Johnson (1974) 39 Cal. App.3d 749, 760 [114 Cal. Rptr. 545], quoting Bowles v. United States (D.C. Cir.1970) 439 F.2d 536, 541-542 [142 App.D.C. 26]; see Cal. Law Revision Com. com., 29B West's Ann. Evid. Code (1966 ed.) § 913, p. 496 [Deering's Ann. Evid. Code (1986 ed.) § 913, p. 80].) To avoid the potentially prejudicial impact of having a witness assert the privilege against self-incrimination before the jury, we have in the past recommended that, in determining the propriety of the witness's invocation of the privilege, the trial court hold a pretestimonial hearing outside the jury's presence. ( People v. Ford (1988) 45 Cal.3d 431, 441, fn. 6 [247 Cal. Rptr. 121, 754 P.2d 168, 76 A.L.R.4th 785].) This was done here. A defendant's rights to due process and to present a defense do not include a right to present to the jury a speculative, factually unfounded inference. (See People v. Frierson, supra, 53 Cal.3d at p. 743.) If the trial court in this case had permitted defendant to compel Sandra B. to assert the privilege in front of the jury, it would have been required, on request, to instruct the jury not to draw the very inference defendant sought to present to the jury. (Evid. Code, § 913, subd. (b).) Defendant's reliance on United States v. Robinson (1988) 485 U.S. 25 [99 L.Ed.2d 23, 108 S.Ct. 864] is misplaced. There, the high court held that it was permissible for the prosecutor to respond to the defendant's assertion that the government had not allowed him to give his version of events, by pointing out that the defendant had the opportunity to testify and did not do so. ( Id. at pp. 26, 34.) Here, it was defendant, not the prosecutor, who attempted to comment on a witness's assertion of a constitutional right, by seeking to have the jury draw an inference of guilt from Sandra B.'s invocation of the privilege against self-incrimination. [7] We conclude that the trial court did not err in refusing defendant's request to compel Sandra B. to invoke before the jury her privilege against self-incrimination.