NCJ Number
84757
Date Published
1981
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Steps to be taken by defense counsel in properly representing a client who has been subpenaed as a witness before a grand jury are discussed.
Abstract
Defense counsel should inform the client about inherent dangers in the grand jury process and the manner in which a prosecutor uses the grand jury, so as to avoid hazards confronting the unwary witness. Before defense counsel can provide sound advice to the client, steps must be taken to determine the scope of the investigation and assess the likelihood that the client has violated a criminal statute. Defense counsel's first inquiry to the prosecutor is whether the client is a target of the grand jury investigation. Unless the prosecutor guarantees that the client is not a target and is not likely to become a target, testimony should be refused; assertion of the fifth amendment is the safer course. Defense counsel should review Title IX, Chapter 11 of the U.S. Attorney's Manual to gain familarity with the prosecutor's language. The defense counsel's principal objective is sometimes to obtain use immunity for the client. In most cases, a grant of use immunity will preclude prosecution for the subject matter covered by the testimony. It is important to debrief all grand jury witnesses, because the debriefing permits defense counsel to determine the scope of the investigation and facilitates identification of the putative defendant's areas of vulnerability.