Opinion ID: 2277488
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Danger of Prosecution

Text: Wilson also argues that the danger of Lee being prosecuted on the basis of his answers to defense counsel's questions was illusory, and that if such a risk existed at all, a narrower privilege would have sufficed. This contention might have some force if it had been made after cross-examination of Gelestino and Pelander, but is not persuasive given the timing of the claim in the trial court. Of the areas of inquiry which defense counsel proposed to address with Lee ( see p. 1138, supra ), only two remain relevant; the ultimate issue whether Lee was the thief, and the circumstances under which he borrowed Wilson's car. [11] Questioning Lee about the ultimate issue necessarily calls for an incriminatory response. See In re Morganroth, 718 F.2d 161, 167 (6th Cir. 1983); In re Boiardo, 34 N.J. 599, 603-05, 170 A.2d 816, 819 (1961). Moreover, if Lee had admitted his guilt, the risk of prosecution would be substantial and real. See Jaggers, supra, 482 A.2d at 793. Even though the government witnesses did not identify Lee as the thief, that alone would not dissipate the danger of prosecution. Identification of Lee by the witnesses would not have been necessary to permit prosecution of Lee based upon his own incriminating testimony. If Lee confessed to the crime, the testimony of government witnesses establishing its commission would have provided adequate corroboration. See Opper v. United States, 348 U.S. 84, 93, 75 S.Ct. 158, 164, 99 L.Ed. 101 (1954). Under the circumstances, the court's conclusion that Lee had the right not to answer questions about the ultimate issue was correct. Questions concerning Lee's use of Wilson's car raise different issues. Testimony that Lee was using the vehicle at the time of the second sighting would obviously have been helpful to Wilson's defense, and perhaps dispositive. If Lee had testified that it was he and not Wilson who accompanied Ms. Reed to the Wheaton store, the prosecution would have sustained a serious setback. Pelander's identification of Wilson was predicated on the proposition that the same man who committed the crime was the subject of the second sighting. If Lee was the man who came to the Wheaton store, then the basis for contending that Wilson was the thief in Georgetown becomes tenuous. Moreover, no crime was committed in Wheaton, so that Lee would not have incriminated himself as directly by acknowledging being there on July 17 as he would have by placing himself on the scene in Georgetown. But here, as in many of life's activities, timing is everything. When Judge Kotelly sustained the privilege, it was still defense counsel's strategy to attempt to obtain identifications of Lee by Pelander and Gelestino as the real culprit in the case. If these witnesses had testified as the defense hoped, this would have exculpated Wilson and almost certainly led to his acquittal. Lee would then have been in considerable trouble. An admission that he was the man whom Pelander saw at the Wheaton store would have compounded his anguish and made his position even more precarious. The surely have been real and substantial.