Nelson v. Municipal Court

Petitioners, subpoenaed to testify as, witnesses in a criminal prosecution, seek a writ of prohibition to restrain the Municipal Court of the State of California, in and for the City and County of San Francisco, from imprisoning them for their refusal to testify after they had been granted immunity pursuant to- statute (Pen. Code, § 1324). On September 7, 1972, the court adjudged petitioners in contempt of court and sentenced them to five days’ imprisonment with a stay to permit petitioners to make application to this court.

We are here called upon to determine whether the state may compel a witness to whom it has granted immunity from, prosecution pursuant to statute to give testimony notwithstanding his claim that his answers, might tend to subject him to prosecution under federal law.

We are not without guidance in the resolution of this question. In Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1 [ 12 L.Ed.2d 653 , 84 S.Ct. 1489 ], the United States Supreme Court held that the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination must be deemed fully applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, and that “the same standards must determine whether [a witness’] silence in…