California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Binns, B250120 (Cal. App. 2015):
4. Evidence Code section 404 states, "Whenever the proffered evidence is claimed to be privileged under Section 940 [the privilege against self-incrimination], the person claiming the privilege has the burden of showing that the proffered evidence might tend to incriminate him; and the proffered evidence is inadmissible unless it clearly appears to the court that the proffered evidence cannot possibly have a tendency to incriminate the person claiming the privilege." "The privilege [against self-incrimination] applies only to matter which is incriminatory; it is the court's duty to judge whether a particular question put has the tendency to subject the witness to punishment for crime. It cannot do so in advance of an actual question being put. It is the court, not the individual, that must make the determination whether invocation of the privilege is proper." (People v. Apodaca (1993) 16 Cal.App.4th 1706, 1714.) The "question of privilege with respect to a compelled witness does not arise until he or she answers or refuses to answer a specific question." (Id. at p. 1715.) We independently review whether a witness could properly invoke the privilege. (People v. Seijas (2005) 36 Cal.4th 291, 304.)
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