In Re Grand Jury Proceedings. Alfredo Carlos Garcia-Rosell, Witness-Appellant v. United States

Alfredo Carlos Garcia-Rosell appeals the district court’s judgment holding him in civil contempt for refusing to testify before the grand jury subsequent to a grant of immunity. We affirm the district court’s adjudication of contempt.

I. Fifth Amendment Protection

A grand jury witness may be held in civil contempt if he refuses without just cause to testify. 28 U.S.C. § 1826 . Garcia-Ro-sell contends that his refusal to testify is justified because: (1) the Fifth Amendment protects him from testifying on matters that were the subject of his criminal conviction while the appeal of that conviction is pending; and (2) the Fifth Amendment pro tects him from being compelled to give testimony that may later be used against him in a foreign prosecution.

Garcia-Rosell argues that the Fifth Amendment prohibits compelling a convicted defendant, through a grant of use immunity, to testify to matters which are the subject of an appeal filed by that defendant. There is no Ninth Circuit authority for this proposition. Appellant’s reliance on United States v. Schwimmer, 882 F.2d 22 (2d Cir.1989), is misplaced. Schwimmer held that, so long as the government proves that its evidence at any…