Opinion ID: 1201769
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Failure to inform the jury

Text: (18) Defendant contends that the trial court should have either informed the jury of Gregory's refusal to testify or compelled Gregory to claim the privilege against self-incrimination in the jury's presence. We reject this contention. As we have explained in previous opinions, permitting the jury to learn that a witness has invoked the privilege against self-incrimination serves no legitimate purpose and may cause the jury to draw an improper inference of the witness's guilt or complicity in the charged offense. ( People v. Hill (1992) 3 Cal.4th 959, 992 [13 Cal. Rptr.2d 475, 839 P.2d 984]; People v. Mincey, supra, 2 Cal.4th 408, 441; People v. Frierson, supra, 53 Cal.3d 730, 743.)