The judge agreed but it wasn't automatic that witness's attorney had to make a case to the judge. Both the prosecution and the defense listed the guy who was in the car with George Floyd as a potential witness, and he asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege because he thought his testimony would incriminate himself. If you were with someone who comitted a crime and they were charged but you weren't, you can invoke your fifth amendment rights to not testify about certain things if that testimony may lead to evidence that you committed a crime. that's why nelson pointed out that this can't be interpreted as an admission of guilt or innocence - he has a right to choose not to, regardless of what he may or may not say.įor example (now i am not a lawyer so it's possible i'm wrong here), if you were with someone who comitted a crime and they were charged but you weren't, you can invoke your fifth amendment rights to not testify about certain things if that testimony may lead to evidence that you committed a crime. many people misinterpret it to mean that you can just choose to not testify in any situation, but it's only against yourself. it prevents you from being tried twice for the same crime, it prevents the legal system from taking things from you if you haven't been tried, and requires that the government pay you if they take your stuff for its use.īut the most common is that you can't be compelled to testify if that testimony may lead to further evidence against yourself. the fifth, as you noted that chauvin has invoked, contains a lot of bedrock for how the us legal system works. I just want to expand a little on point #3 - the united states has the bill of rights, the first ten amendments to the constitution. Is that all witnesses for all cases, even children? Who compensates them and how is the fee determined? What if a witness is being called by the prosecution and defence? Are they paid twice and potentially two different amounts?ĭoes Chauvin have to pay for his lawyer and witnesses? And does the government or Mr Floyd’s family need to pay for the prosecution?ĭo you find it unusual the amount of notes Chauvin’s taking? It’s like he’s taking minutes. I only found out yesterday that witnesses are paid. Why is it being televised and who decided that it will?Īssuming the networks broadcasting it are paying for the privilege, who benefits financially from it? Will the lead lawyers (should I be calling them lawyers or is counsel or attorney the correct term?) already know each other and will have worked cases against each other before? Generally speaking would opposing lawyers have a big dislike for each other? Is there a reason for that or is it personal presence how many each side has? There are 4 lawyers on the prosecution side but only Nelson for the defence. Pre-COVID restrictions, would a sidebar only be for the judge and lawyers? If so why does Chauvin get to listen to the sidebar now? But after seeing the defence witnesses it doesn’t feel that much of a disadvantage. I’ve had a number of questions throughout, which I’ve been saving in case I have more, and now we’re coming to the end of hearing from all the witnesses I thought now would be a good time to ask.ĭoes the prosecution always go first with calling their witnesses? When I had this question early on in the trial I thought it seems a disadvantage if the jury have the defence witness testimonies fresh in their mind over the prosecutions. and apart from day one I’ve been watching the trial of Chauvin more or less from start to finish each day. So I hope you don’t mind me posting here. Then I tried in r/askanamerican but it has a 500 character limit. I was thinking of posting this in r/law but I it might be a violation of their rules.
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