Originally Posted By: Turnbull
Kly, forgive a naive question, but...

If Zimmerman chooses to testify, could he still invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege in refusing to answer specific questions? I know a defendant can do that in a federal trial (i.e., the Rosenberg spy case, when both defendants chose to testify but invoked the Fifth selectively). Not sure he can do it in a state trial.

If he can take the Fifth selectively, and he chooses to do so, the prosecutor will have a field day with the jury's perception of him ("Did you associate the decedent's wearing of a hoodie with black 'gangstas'?" "I respectfully decline to answer that question on the grounds that my answer might tend to incriminate me"). Imagine Michael Corleone at the Senate hearing: "Were you responsible for ordering the murder of the heads of the Five Families in 1950?" "I respectfully decline to answer that question on the grounds that my answer might tend to incriminate me." rolleyes


That's not a naive question at all. The right still applies in state court as well as federal court. I've seen it happen when a criminal defendant testified in detail about a homicide, which was the basis of his charge, but when asked about his association with a witness, who had pending drug charges, he took the Fifth. The effect was just as you suggested.