Many television shows and movies portray prosecutors sometimes bargaining with defendants whenever they believe that the suspect has valuable information about other more extensive criminal activities. David Serna thinks that more people should know about immunity deals with the prosecution, which they offer to defendants in exchange for their testimony. David Serna believes defendants should know that anyone with criminal charges has a Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. It means no one can force them to reveal any incriminating information about themselves. Besides directly incriminating responses, it also covers responses that could lead to the discovery of incriminating evidence.
David Serna
believes it is a valuable tool for the prosecution to aid investigations and
get relevant information that witnesses would not otherwise provide because of
their fears. But, only a state or federal prosecutor can decide who receives
immunity. They can grant immunity deals to defendants of various crimes, from
something as minor as theft to more severe crimes like murder. Prosecutors
usually offer immunity to defendants of minor crimes to help them convict
someone involved in a significant crime. You can often see it occur in
organized crimes when prosecutors provide immunity to a subordinate to testify
against their leader.
Besides its
definition, limits, and application, David Serna also believes defendants must
be familiar with the types of immunity prosecutors may offer them. One type is
transactional immunity, which protects them against any future charges based on
any matter related to their testimony. Although it is the broadest type of
immunity, known as total immunity, it does not save the defendant from
prosecution for criminal activities unrelated to something discussed in the
immunized testimony. Unlike transactional immunity, the use and derivative use
immunity come with more restrictions. David Serna believes the prosecution
offers this type of immunity more often because they can file charges similar
to the crime against the witness. But, they can only charge their witness as
long as the prosecutor base the charges entirely on independent evidence from a
different source.
