Opinion ID: 2054559
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Fifth Amendment Right

Text: In discussing questions one and two, we note that courts should be mindful that a defendant, within evidentiary and procedural restraints, is always entitled to present his full defense to the trier of fact. At trial, petitioner subpoenaed Gatton to testify. The Circuit Court was made aware that Gatton intended to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Gatton was therefore initially called out of the jury's presence [13] and he was questioned about his role in the murder, to which Gatton invoked his Fifth Amendment right. The Circuit Court determined that Gatton could properly invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege. Petitioner wanted the Circuit Court to make Gatton invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege in the presence of the jury. Petitioner contended that it would be unfair to not allow petitioner to put on a witness that petitioner alleges committed the murder and have that witness invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege in front of the jury because the very invocation of the privilege contains relevant evidentiary inferences supporting the theory of the defense. The Circuit Court, relying on the factually distinguishable cases of Adkins v. State, 316 Md. 1, 557 A.2d 203 (1989) and Bhagwat v. State, 338 Md. 263, 658 A.2d 244 (1995), stated: THE COURT: As I've said before, under Adkins and, I think it's Bhagwat, they say if the court is aware someone is going to invoke the privilege against self-incrimination, it's supposed to be out of the range of the jury and if there is a case subsequent to that, I think it's `95 in Bhagwat, I would be happy to look at it. That's the current status of the law as far as I know. ... THE COURT: Well, I haven't had a chance to read the law review article, but I think at this stage dealing with circuit court, I am pretty well limited on this issue because the last two cases the Court of Appeals are very specific on, who was there when the witness takes the Fifth Amendment. So, I will follow Adkins and Bhagwat and not allow Mr. Gatton to invoke his privilege before the jury. Gatton was then called to the stand and asked his name and birth date. Gatton was then instructed to stand next to petitioner and the witness was then excused. No questions about Gatton's exercise of the privilege were permitted. Petitioner subsequently requested that the Circuit Court give a jury instruction in respect to the Fifth Amendment as follows: A witness has a right under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 22 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights to testify or not to testify fully when called to the witness stand. The Circuit Court declined to instruct the jury. Petitioner states that it was his defense at trial that Gatton killed Bonnie Gray and that ample evidence in support of this proposition was produced. The trial court relied on case law that was not applicable to the case sub judice when it declined to allow petitioner to question Gatton and have him invoke his Fifth Amendment right in the presence of the jury, believing in the first instance, that it had no discretion at all to do so, and then it also declined to give the requested instruction. Petitioner contends that the trial court's decision was prejudicial to his defense because the jury might have been skeptical as to why petitioner would not question Gatton about the murder, if, as alleged to the jury, he thought that Gatton committed the murder. This might, according to petitioner, lead the jury to believe that petitioner had chosen not to ask Gatton any questions about the murder out of a lack of confidence in his defense. Petitioner contends that he was, at least, entitled to have the trial court give a jury instruction concerning a witness's right to invoke the Fifth Amendment to overcome the prejudice to petitioner of not being allowed to question Gatton about the murder in the presence of the jury. Thus, petitioner contends, the jury was not permitted any evidence relating to the reason Gatton was not produced as a witness, even though the jury knew he was in the courtroom and physically available. The privilege against self-incrimination can be traced back to the English common law, when the privilege was expressed as Nemo tenetur prodere seipsum (No one should be required to betray himself). Black's Law Dictionary 1662 (Bryan A. Garner ed., 7th ed., West 1999). Currently, the privilege against self-incrimination is guaranteed by Maryland and federal law. Article 22 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights (Self incrimination) states [t]hat no man ought to be compelled to give evidence against himself in a criminal case. The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution (Rights of Accused in Criminal Proceedings) states, in relevant part, that [n]o person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.... In Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1, 3, 84 S.Ct. 1489, 1491, 12 L.Ed.2d 653, 656 (1964), the Supreme Court held that the Fifth Amendment was extended to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment. Article 22 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights has generally been recognized as being in pari materia with its federal counterparts. Richardson v. State, 285 Md. 261, 265, 401 A.2d 1021, 1024 (1979). [14] In Richardson, supra, a case where the State wanted to have one of its witnesses invoke the privilege before a jury, this Court examined the procedure a court should generally follow when determining if a State's witness can invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege. We stated: Our predecessors clearly set forth in numerous cases the procedures to be followed in determining when a witness may refuse to testify on grounds that the evidence adduced may incriminate him. The witness should first be called to the stand and sworn. Midgett v. State, 223 Md. 282, 289, 164 A.2d 526, 529 (1960), cert. denied, 365 U.S. 853, 81 S.Ct. 819, 5 L.Ed.2d 817 (1961). Interrogation of the witness should then proceed to the point where he asserts his privilege against self-incrimination as a ground for not answering a question. Shifflett v. State, 245 Md. 169, 173-74, 225 A.2d 440, 443 (1967). If it is a jury case, the jury should then be dismissed and the trial judge should attempt to `determine whether the claim of privilege is in good faith or lacks any reasonable basis.' Midgett v. State, supra, 223 Md. at 289, 164 A.2d 526. If further interrogation is pursued, then the witness should either answer the questions asked or assert his privilege, making this decision on a question by question basis. Royal v. State, 236 Md. 443, 447, 204 A.2d 500, 502 (1964). However, the standards for determining whether a witness' refusal to testify is justified on fifth amendment grounds were set out in Hoffman v. United States, 341 U.S. 479, 71 S.Ct. 814, 95 L.Ed. 1118 (1951). In Hoffman, the petitioner had been called to testify before a federal grand jury investigating racketeering. When asked questions concerning the whereabouts of a man who was a fugitive witness, Hoffman refused to respond on the ground that his answers might tend to incriminate him. This claim of privilege was challenged by the government, and a federal district court ordered Hoffman to return to the grand jury and answer the questions that had been asked of him. Hoffman was cited for contempt when he stated in open court that he would not obey the order. The Supreme Court held: The privilege afforded not only extends to answers that would in themselves support a conviction under a... criminal statute but likewise embraces those which would furnish a link in the chain of evidence needed to prosecute the claimant for a ... crime.... But this protection must be confined to instances where the witness has reasonable cause to apprehend danger from a direct answer.... The witness is not exonerated from answering merely because he declares that in so doing he would incriminate himselfhis sayso does not of itself establish the hazard of incrimination. It is for the court to say whether his silence is justified, ... and to require him to answer if `it clearly appears to the court that he is mistaken.' ... However, if the witness, upon interposing his claim, were required to prove the hazard in the sense in which a claim is usually required to be established in court, he would be compelled to surrender the very protection which the privilege is designed to guarantee. To sustain the privilege, it need only be evident from the implications of the question, in the setting in which it is asked, that a responsive answer to the question or an explanation of why it cannot be answered might be dangerous because injurious disclosure could result. The trial judge in appraising the claim `must be governed as much by his personal perception of the peculiarities of the case as by the facts actually in evidence.'... [341 U.S. at 486-87, 71 S.Ct. 814 (citations omitted)]. The Court reviewed the circumstances surrounding Hoffman's appearance before the grand jury, and pointed out that the questions were designed to elicit information concerning his association with a fugitive witness, more particularly associations during the time that the witness was eluding the grand jury. Because their questions might have forced Hoffman to reveal that he had engaged in criminal activity by helping the witness to avoid an appearance before the grand jury, the court held that it was not `perfectly clear, from a careful consideration of all the circumstances in the case, that the witness is mistaken, and that the answer[s] cannot possibly have such tendency to incriminate.' 341 U.S. at 488, 71 S.Ct. 814 [emphasis in original]. Hoffman's contempt conviction was reversed. Although Hoffman was decided nearly three decades ago, its continued vitality has been recognized both by the Supreme Court of the United States, e.g., Maness v. Meyers, 419 U.S. 449, 461, 95 S.Ct. 584, 42 L.Ed.2d 574 (1975); Kastigar v. United States, 406 U.S. 441, 445, 92 S.Ct. 1653, 32 L.Ed.2d 212 (1972); Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1, 11-12, 84 S.Ct. 1489, 12 L.Ed.2d 653 (1964), and the courts of this State. See Smith v. State, 283 Md. 187, 193, 388 A.2d 539, 542 (1978); Payne v. Payne, 33 Md.App. 707, 714-15, 366 A.2d 405, 410 (1976). Richardson, 285 Md. at 265-67, 401 A.2d at 1024-25 (alterations in original) (footnote omitted). Likewise, in Bhagwat v. State, 338 Md. 263, 272-73, 658 A.2d 244, 248 (1995), Chief Judge Bell, then Judge Bell, stated for the Court that: The test of the witness's entitlement to invoke the privilege against self-incrimination(1) whether there is a reasonable basis for the invocation of the privilege; and (2) whether the privilege is invoked in good faith, see Adkins v. State, supra, 316 Md. at 6-7, 557 A.2d at 205-06; Richardson v. State, supra, 285 Md. at 265, 401 A.2d at 1024; Midgett v. State, 223 Md. at 288-92, 164 A.2d at 529-31; McLain, Maryland Evidence, supra, § 514.1, at 605 was well stated in Choi v. State, 316 Md. 529, 560 A.2d 1108 (1989). It is whether `the witness has reasonable cause to apprehend danger from a direct answer,' id. at 536, 560 A.2d at 1111, and whether it is `evident from the implications of the question, in the setting in which it is asked, that a responsive answer to the question or an explanation of why it cannot be answered might be dangerous because injurious disclosure could result.' Id. at 537, 560 A.2d at 1111. Bhagwat was thus also primarily concerned with whether, not how, the privilege could be exercised. In Vandegrift v. State, 237 Md. 305, 206 A.2d 250 (1965), we adopted five requirements for a court's finding of prejudicial error when a witness was called by the State and invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. We stated: While, fortunately, we have not previously been called upon to consider the situation here complained of, courts in other jurisdictions have had occasion to deal with it. The case most heavily relied on by the appellant is DeGesualdo v. People, 147 Colo. 426, 364 P.2d 374 (1961). In that case the Supreme Court of Colorado held that the calling of an accomplice or coconspirator as a witness under circumstances quite similar to those involved here was prejudicial error. The court stated (at p. 376): `It is apparent that the district attorney could not have possibly entertained a good faith belief that    [the witness] would testify if called and thus the inference is that this was a studied attempt to bring to the attention of the jury his refusal to testify and his claim of the Fifth Amendment.` This case is annotated in 86 A.L.R.2d 1443, where the commentator in summarizing the decisions on this question lists five requirements for a court's finding of prejudicial error (pp. 1444-1445): `1. that the witness appears to have been so closely implicated in the defendant's alleged criminal activities that the invocation by the witness of a claim of privilege when asked a relevant question tending to establish the offense charged will create an inference of the witness' complicity, which will, in turn, prejudice the defendant in the eyes of the jury; `2. that the prosecutor knew in advance or had reason to anticipate that the witness would claim his privilege, or had no reasonable basis for expecting him to waive it, and therefore, called him in bad faith and for an improper purpose; `3. that the witness had a right to invoke his privilege; `4. that defense counsel made timely objection and took exception to the prosecutor's misconduct; and '5. that the trial court refused or failed to cure the error by an appropriate instruction or admonition to the jury.' [15] Id. at 308-09, 206 A.2d at 252 (alteration in original). We have not heretofore opined on an appropriate procedure when a defendant presents a defense that another person committed the offense, but that person who is physically present invokes his privilege to remain silent. Our prior cases have, generally, involved State witnesses whose testimony, if given, would inculpate a defendant, unlike the present case, where the proffered testimony, or the invocation of the privilege to remain silent, might provide exculpatory evidentiary inferences. In the case at bar, where it is the defendant, not the State, desiring to call the witness, the trial court, in deciding against allowing the witness to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege in front of the jury, relied on the holdings and procedures enunciated in our decisions in Bhagwat, supra, and Adkins v. State, 316 Md. 1, 557 A.2d 203 (1989). In its brief to this Court, the State also relies upon these two cases as well as citing our cases of Vandegrift, supra, and Allen v. State, 318 Md. 166, 567 A.2d 118 (1989). [16] In Vandegrift, the State's Attorney called to the witness stand several of Vandegrift's codefendants who had not yet been tried, knowing that the codefendants would refuse to testify based on their right against self-incrimination. In fact, the codefendants did invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Inculpatory inferences as to the defendant on trial resulted from the invocation of the privilege in that case. This Court reversed Vandegrift's guilty verdict, holding that the actions of the prosecutor in the case before us were prejudicial. Vandegrift, 237 Md. 305, 309, 206 A.2d 250, 253 (1965). The same situation existed in Adkins. There, the defendant, David Cleveland Adkins, was convicted of felony-murder and robbery. The issue that this Court had to decide on appeal involved the propriety of calling an accomplice as a state's witness in the jury's presence when it is known by the court and counsel that the witness will invoke the privilege against compelled self incrimination. Adkins, 316 Md. 1, 2, 557 A.2d 203, 203 (1989). Adkins and Darryl Troxell were the last people to be seen with the victim, Joseph Michael Teal, when the three men had been drinking together. The next day, Teal was found floating face down in a creek. By the time of Adkins's trial, Troxell had been convicted and sentenced for the murder of Teal, although he was in the process of appealing. During the trial, a hearing was held on a Motion in Limine filed by Adkins to exclude a conversation that Troxell had with a brother-in-law of Adkins. At the hearing, Troxell invoked his Fifth Amendment right. The trial court stated that the Fifth Amendment right was not available to Troxell because he had already been convicted, even though his appeal was pending. Troxell still invoked his Fifth Amendment right and stated that he would invoke it if called at trial. The trial court allowed the State, in the presence of the jury, to call Troxell at trial. Troxell once again invoked his Fifth Amendment right on a question by question basis, stating that he was afraid of compromising his pending appeal. The trial court, in the presence of the jury, instructed Troxell to answer and then found him in contempt of court. This Court applied the five factor test stated in Vandegrift and found that four of the five factors had been satisfied. Therefore, the Court held that Adkins had been prejudiced, stating: In viewing all of the circumstances of the invocation of the privilege by Troxell, we hold that it was prejudicial error for the trial judge to conduct the second inquiry as to unavailability in the presence of the jury. Here, both the court and counsel were aware that the accomplice intended to invoke the privilege against self-incrimination as a result of the prior Motion in Limine testimony of Troxell. He clearly indicated that he would continue to refuse to testify if recalled before the jury, notwithstanding the earlier finding of contempt. Under these facts, the court should not have allowed the accomplice to be recalled before the jury for the purpose of direct examination. The trial judge should have ruled on Troxell's availability during the Motion in Limine procedure, making a factual finding on the record, out of the presence of the jury. ... Under the circumstances presented, because of our holding that it was prejudicial error for the trial court to require the accomplice to invoke the privilege against self-incrimination in the presence of the jury, we shall reverse Adkins' conviction and remand the case for a new trial. Adkins at 14-16, 557 A.2d at 209-10 (footnotes omitted). In Allen, the defendant, Lloyd Allen, was convicted of robbery with a deadly weapon. Prior to his trial, Allen's counsel proffered that one of the proposed witnesses, Antonio Buie, intended to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination. At a hearing prior to trial, Buie's counsel informed the court that Buie insisted upon asserting his Fifth Amendment privilege. The State indicated that it intended to have Buie called as a court's witness because the State had prosecuted Buie in the past and could not vouch for Buie's credibility. The court did not rule at the hearing. At trial, Buie was called by the trial court to testify over his counsel's objection. Buie invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege. The court then excused the jury and found Buie in contempt of court. The next day, outside of the presence of the jury, the court determined that it would call Buie as its witness because the court could protect Buie from future prosecution and, therefore, Buie did not have a basis for asserting his Fifth Amendment privilege. The trial court determined that the questions and answers could occur in the presence of the jury despite the fact that Buie intended to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege. Buie was called to testify and he invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege in response to several questions asked by the prosecutor in the presence of the jury. Applying the test enunciated in Vandegrift, this Court determined that Allen was unfairly prejudiced when the court called Buie, who invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege, as its own witness. We held that the court calling Buie to testify was the same as if he was called by the State. The issue presented in the case sub judice is a case of first impression for this Court as the facts are distinguishable from Allen, Adkins, and Vandegrift. All three of those cases concerned a witness being called to testify by the prosecution or by the court, when they knew or should have known that the witness was going to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege. Those cases all concerned the prejudicial effectthe inculpatory effectthat this would have on a defendant, then at trial, because the witnesses in all of the cases were alleged to be complicit in the crime for which the defendant was on trial. The witnesses invoking their Fifth Amendment privilege in the presence of the jury would have the prejudicial effect of an adverse inference that would implicate the defendant in the crime. The case at bar involves a defendant (petitioner) who wants to call a witness (Gatton), who was not an accomplice, but rather the person the defendant claims committed the crime, to testify or invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege in the presence of the jury. The witness was being called for exculpatory purposes. Petitioner contends that he was prejudiced by not being able to have Gatton invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege in the presence of the jury because he had built his entire defense on the concept that Gatton committed the crime. Petitioner further contends that Gatton invoking his privilege outside of the presence of the jury provides the jury with an incorrect inference that petitioner's defense was frivolous or insincere because he did not question Gatton about the crime. Because we are reversing on other grounds, it is not necessary that we determine in this case what the proper procedure should be when a defendant desires to present a witness whom a defendant asserts is the perpetrator of the crime for which a defendant is charged, and that witness desires to exercise his right to remain silent. We note again, however, that the line of Maryland cases that address the subject do so, generally, in contrary factual circumstances to the case at bar. We believe that a trial court has some discretion to consider permitting a defendant in a criminal case to call a witness to the stand to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege in the presence of the jury if the trial court first determines whether sufficient evidence has been presented, believable by any trier of fact, of the possible guilt of the witness the defendant wants to cause to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege before the jury. The court, in the exercise of that discretion, must consider, as well, the prejudice to the defense of not allowing the potentially exculpatory witness to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege in the presence of the jury. In opining that such discretion exists, we note that such testimony, if permitted, might be subject to the same restraints that a trial judge normally may exercise as to relevancy, repetitiveness, and the like. In the case sub judice, addressing the discretion of the trial court, the Court of Special Appeals stated: In Baxter v. Palmigiano, 425 U.S. 308, 318, 96 S.Ct. 1551, 47 L.Ed.2d 810 (1976), the Supreme Court held that `the Fifth Amendment does not forbid adverse inferences against parties to civil actions when they refuse to testify in response to probative evidence offered against them.' In Kramer v. Levitt, 79 Md.App. 575, 558 A.2d 760 (1989), we addressed the evidentiary significance of a party's invoking the Fifth Amendment privilege in a civil case, in response to discovery requests. We read Baxter to mean that three criteria must be met before an inference may be drawn against a person exercising his Fifth Amendment privilege: 1) the action must be a civil case; 2) the party seeking to draw the inference must have made out a prima facia case, so that he is not relying on the adverse inference to establish an element of his cause of action; and 3) the person invoking the privilege must be a party, not a witness. Id. at 586, 558 A.2d 760. On that basis, we held that party who had asserted the privilege in response to discovery could not testify on the same topic at trial and that the opposing party was entitled to an instruction telling the jurors that they could, but need not, draw an inference from the party's invocation of the Fifth Amendment privilege that his answers to the discovery requests would have been adverse to his interests. Id. at 56-89 [586-89]. Given that when it is asserted in a civil case, by a party, the Fifth Amendment privilege may take on evidentiary significance, we disagree with the courts that take the sweeping view that there can never be probative value to a witness's assertion of the privilege in a criminal case and, therefore, trial courts lack discretion to permit a witness to take the stand when it is known that the witness will invoke the privilege. The question is not whether a witness's assertion of the privilege is devoid of evidentiary value in a criminal case but whether, as a matter of policy, a trier of fact in a criminal case should be permitted to give that act evidentiary value and, if so, under what circumstances. We agree with the courts that, mindful that the defendant's Sixth Amendment rights [17] may be implicated, recognize discretion in the trial court to decide the issue based on considerations of relevancy and probative value versus potential prejudicial effect. Thus, in Maryland, the question whether, upon request of a criminal defendant, a witness may be questioned in front of the jury when it is known that he will reasonably and in good faith assert the testimonial privilege must be determined by application of Md. Rules 5-401 and 5-403. [18] Gray v. State, 137 Md.App. 460, 516-17, 769 A.2d 192, 224-25 (2001). While we are reversing the Court of Special Appeals's affirmance of the trial court, we do not disagree with its statement above. While we agree with that part of the Court of Special Appeals's holding, we disagree with their approval of the trial court's failure to use its discretion in the case sub judice. The Court of Special Appeals stated that whether the trial court exercised its discretion in this regard matters not. Id. at 517, 769 A.2d at 225. As we indicate, in some circumstances, including these circumstances, it matters. We conclude that just as a trial court must determine whether a witness is properly invoking his Fifth Amendment privilege, the trial court must exercise its discretion and determine if a defendant will be unfairly prejudiced by the court not allowing the defendant to call a potentially exculpatory witness that the defendant and the trial court know will invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege in the presence of the jury. We are not holding in the case sub judice that sufficient evidence has been presented that would entitle the defendant to have Gatton take the stand in the presence of the jury and invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege. That is for the trial court to determine upon any retrial. In the exercise of discretion, it should always be remembered that such a defendant is entitled to have his defense fully presented to the jury. While trial courts are exercising their discretion in determining if a potentially exculpatory witness called by a defendant should be allowed to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege in the presence of the jury, the trial courts need to make sure that sufficient evidence has been presented to make the matter relevant. Sufficient is defined as [a]dequate; of such quality, number, force, or value as is necessary for a given purpose. Black's Law Dictionary 1447 (Bryan A. Garner ed., 7th ed., West 1999). Sufficient evidence must be presented so that any trier of fact might possibly and reasonably believe that the proposed witness might have committed the crime instead of the defendant. If sufficient evidence is proffered, then the trial court may proceed with an analysis of whether the defendant would be unfairly prejudiced by prohibiting this witness from invoking his Fifth Amendment privilege in the presence of the jury. Other courts have also held that the determination of whether a witness should be allowed to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege in the presence of the jury is in the trial court's discretion (in some instances, even where the prosecutor calls the witness). United States v. Kaplan, 832 F.2d 676, 684 (1st Cir.1987) (if a witness intends to invoke the Fifth Amendment privilege, it is in the discretion of the court whether to allow him to take the stand); United States v. Johnson, 488 F.2d 1206, 1211 (1st Cir.1973) (If it appears that a witness intends to claim the privilege as to essentially all questions, the court may, in its discretion, refuse to allow him to take the stand.); United States v. Bowman, 636 F.2d 1003, 1013 (5th Cir. 1981) (The general rule is that once the trial court has satisfied itself as to the validity of the witness's Fifth Amendment claim, it may, in its discretion, decline to place the witness on the stand for the purpose of eliciting a claim of privilege.); United States v. Vandetti, 623 F.2d 1144, 1147 (6th Cir.1980) (the trial court can allow a prosecutor to call a witness who will assert his Fifth Amendment privilege if the prosecutor's case would be seriously prejudiced by not offering him as a witness); United States v. Martin, 526 F.2d 485, 487 (10th Cir.1975) (In such circumstance it was well within the discretion of the trial court to refuse to allow the informant to be called to the witness stand and be compelled to thereafter invoke his Fifth Amendment right in the presence of the jury....); Ex parte Reeves, 463 So.2d 177, 178 (Ala.1984) (Trehern should have been required to take the stand in the presence of the jury and invoked his privilege in response to any question asked by the defendant which would have elicited incriminating evidence if answered.); State v. McDaniel, 136 Ariz. 188, 194, 665 P.2d 70, 76 (1983) (In light of these decisions, we must modify our prior holdings... insofar as they suggest an absolute right to call witnesses regardless of the fact that they may properly choose to invoke their Fifth Amendment privilege in response to all relevant questions.); State v. Berry, 658 S.W.2d 476, 479 (Mo.App. 1983) (The refusal to permit a witness to testify lies within the discretion of the trial judge when it is claimed ... that the witness will invoke his claim of privilege.); People v. Thomas, 51 N.Y.2d 466, 472, 415 N.E.2d 931, 934, 434 N.Y.S.2d 941, 944 (1980) ([T]he decision whether to permit defense counsel to call a particular witness solely `to put him to his claim of privilege against self incrimination in the presence of the jury' rests within the sound discretion of the trial court.); People v. Patrk, 191 A.D.2d 718, 718, 595 N.Y.S.2d 798, 799 (1993) (It is well-settled that the trial court has broad discretion to determine whether or not to allow a defendant to call a witness for the purpose of having the witness invoke his privilege against self incrimination before a jury.); State v. Stanfield, 134 N.C.App. 685, 692-93, 518 S.E.2d 541, 545-46 (1999) (the trial court did not abuse its discretion by not allowing the defendant to call a witness who would invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege in the presence of the jury); Porth v. State, 868 P.2d 236, 240 (Wyo.1994) (We hold that the trial court has discretion to allow or disallow the defendant to call a witness to the stand who the court knows will invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination in the presence of the jury.). [19] When a defendant proffers a defense that the crime was committed by another person and the defendant wants to call as a witness that person only to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination on the witness stand in the presence of the jury, the trial court, on the record, should make a determination of whether sufficient other evidence has been proffered that, if believed by any trier of fact, might link the accused witness to the commission of the crime. If the trial court finds that such sufficient evidence, linking the accused witness to the crime and believable by any trier of fact, exists that could possibly cause any trier of fact to infer that the witness might have committed the crime for which the defendant is being tried, then the trial court has the discretion to permit, and limit as normally may be appropriate, the defendant to question the witness, generally, about his involvement in the offense and have him invoke his Fifth Amendment right in the jury's presence. Where the trial court fails to permit a Gatton-type of witness to invoke the Fifth Amendment in the presence of the jury, the trial court, upon appropriate request, should give a full instruction to the jury, that the witness, under the circumstances described above, has invoked his right against self-incrimination, and, therefore, is unavailable to the defendant. Even if a Gatton-type of witness is permitted to invoke a Fifth Amendment privilege, in the presence of the jury, either party, in some circumstances, might still be entitled to have an appropriate instruction given to the jury. In the present case, the trial court believed it did not have any discretion to permit defendant to call Gatton to the stand for the purpose of having him invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege in the presence of the jury. Accordingly, the trial court exercised no discretion. Because we are reversing on another grounds, we do not have to determine whether the trial court abused its discretion on this issue, although, we note, that our cases hold that the actual failure to exercise discretion is an abuse of discretion.