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Comment by throwadobe | Hacker News Reader

> Then I think you're legally required to tell the truth here.

Or you can just not respond, at least in the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-incrimination

That only applies if you're the defendant.

If you're the witness to a murder and you're subpoena'd to court and refuse to testify then you are committing contempt of court. There was a guy in Illinois who got 20 years (reduced to 6 on appeal) for refusing to testify in a murder.

https://illinoiscaselaw.com/clecourses/contempt-of-court-max...

Contempt of court usually has no boundaries on the punishment, nor any jury trials. A judge can just order you to be executed on the spot if you say, fall asleep in his courtroom. Sheriffs in Illinois have the same unbridled power over jail detainees.

i think in actual practice you will rarely get contempt for refusing to testify or taking the fifth for questions that could only tenuously implicate yourself in practice.

Usually if you let the prosecutor know up-front that you're not willing to cooperate they will tend to save themselves the hassle of trying. It can go wrong if they subpoena a belligerent witness, then they don't turn up on the day they're supposed to testify, and now the jury is empaneled and they start doing a dance where they demand the sheriff finds the witness, but then the clock runs out on holding the jury and it's a mistrial all round.

That guy needed a better lawyer. He could just have said "I don't remember. Can't say for sure" repeatedly

Yes, "I don't recall" is the oft-heard phrase in the witness stand. I don't remember the specifics of that case and why the guy decided to martyr himself.

I don't think it's necessarily self-incrimination to report a crime you witnessed, though I think it's dependent based on the time from when it occurred to the time of reporting.

Such laws exist in most countries. I'm not aware of any that provide such a right to business entities though.

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