Opinion ID: 1946452
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Refusal to Allow Bogan to Testify

Text: The defendant next argues that the trial justice erred in refusing to allow him to call Bogan as a defense witness notwithstanding his Fifth Amendment privilege. The trial justice would not allow Bogan to be called before the jury in order to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege. Defense counsel argued that although Bogan vowed to invoke his privilege to each and every question I asked of him, he insisted that there are some questions I can ask which don't need the Fifth Amendment and further, that defendant had a right to call Bogan even if he pleads the Fifth Amendment to certain questions before the jury. Counsel is mistaken. We need not dwell long on this issue because the trial justice properly found that Bogan was unavailable as a matter of law. When a witness refuses to testify and invokes a legitimate Fifth Amendment privilege, the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause no longer applies because the witness is unavailable. California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 167-68, 90 S.Ct. 1930, 26 L.Ed.2d 489 (1970). A defendant's Sixth Amendment right to the compulsory process does not trump [a witness's] Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. United States v. Mabrook, 301 F.3d 503, 506 (7th Cir.2002). Thus, after Bogan reappeared, the trial justice did not err in precluding defendant from calling him as a witness. In Ducharme, 601 A.2d at 944-45, we held that a trial justice may prohibit a witness from taking the stand if the witness is likely to invoke the Fifth Amendment before the jury. There is no indication in the record that Bogan had changed his position or had become willing to testify. In fact, defendant admitted that without immunity the court would be placed in a position where if we have to call him, all we are going to hear from the witness, [is] `I plead the Fifth Amendment.' In this case, the trial justice found that the witness had a legitimate privilege not to testify and defendant does not dispute this finding. Although the witness was unavailable to Ramirez, this was not the fault of the state and does not have an impact on defendant's Sixth Amendment Confrontation rights. Accordingly, we reject this argument.