CO · jury_instructions
COLJI-Crim. D:14
ALTERNATE SUSPECT—FIFTH AMENDMENT INVOCATION
The witness who just testified has chosen to exercise [his] [her]
privilege against self-incrimination, which is a right provided in the Fifth
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This privilege permits a witness to
refuse to answer questions where the answers might incriminate [him]
[her] in future criminal proceedings. An answer is incriminating not only
when it would itself support a conviction, but also when it would furnish a
link in the chain of evidence needed to prosecute the witness.
The privilege protects both an innocent witness and a wrongdoer. A
witness may exercise this privilege when [he] [she] has reasonable cause to
apprehend danger from a direct answer. You should draw no inferences
from a witness’s exercise of this privilege.
History
COLJI-Crim. (2025), Colorado Supreme Court Model Criminal Jury Instructions Committee. The committee's page: "The 2025 edition was published online on February 25, 2026." © 2025 Supreme Court of Colorado for the State of Colorado.
Provenance
- Source
- www.coloradojudicial.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-24
- Edition
- crim-2026-02-25
- Content hash
bbcbfe8626dd2467defa6df2185c6a0329e8850a905145ed286a7ebf8936c91d
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