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Is the contract granting David Pecker's immunity in the current criminal trial of Donald Trump public?

After being subpoenaed, I assume Pecker felt that the same evidence would come out whether he speaks now or stays silent (i.e., takes the Fifth), so he felt that any immunity would only benefit him. But, Ted Cruz's family will now probably sue Pecker in civil trial for defamation and don't see how Pecker could possibly be off the hook for that. Pecker must have weighed pros and cons including these in deciding to speak.

So, just considering criminal cases, for what crimes does Pecker have immunity? in what jurisdiction? For example, could Pecker have murdered one of Trumps' enemies without criminal consequence from any USA government body?

I don't understand how immunity contracts can possibly work. Can injured people and jurisdictions who were not a part of the contract negotiations now sue the contract makers?

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Is the contract granting David Pecker's immunity in the current criminal trial of Donald Trump public?

I don't know. It may even have been a purely oral promise made on the court record and not memorialized in a written agreement. This wouldn't be particularly uncommon.

But, in all probability, Pecker didn't have a choice.

If the prosecutor unilaterally grants you with the constitutionally required "use immunity" from criminal prosecution, you are no longer entitled to refuse to testify based upon the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution (as incorporated against state governments via the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution). Instead, you can be compelled to testify by subpoena whether you want to or not, once the prosecutor provides you with use immunity. As explained at the link:

The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution provides the right against self-incrimination, which means a person cannot be compelled to testify against themselves in a criminal case. However, if a person has relevant information that is important to a case, the government may offer them immunity from prosecution to obtain their testimony. The landmark case of Kastigar v. United States, 406 U.S. 441 (1972), established the principle that immunity agreements must provide "coextensive" protection to the witness to prevent any derivative use of their testimony against them.

So, if a criminal prosecution was developed completely independently of the compelled testimony for which Pecker was granted immunity, Pecker could be prosecuted for crimes that he testified about.

Also, which "fruits of his testimony" can't be used to develop more testimony, this constitutionally permitted balance isn't perfect for criminal defendants. This is because even the vague knowledge based upon his testimony that he did commit a crime, which probably isn't specific enough knowledge of his testimony to bar his prosecution in another case, still helps prosecutors a lot. It does so by making it possible for them to ignore leads suggesting that other suspects committed the crime or that a crime was not committed. Knowing that an answer is out there can be helpful as a practical matter, even without knowing what the answer was or where it came from.

So, just considering criminal cases, for what crimes does Pecker have immunity? in what jurisdiction? For example, could Pecker have murdered one of Trumps' enemies without criminal consequence from any USA government body?

The immunity provided is only immunity from the use of that testimony or the fruits of that testimony to prosecute him for a crime. Pecker is not immune from being prosecuted for any particular crimes. He merely has "use immunity" to prevent his testimony from being used against him.

Pecker's testimony can be used against him in civil matters. The prosecutor does not have the authority to provide him with immunity from civil lawsuits based upon his testimony.

I believe that this use immunity protection would bind any other U.S. federal, state, or local jurisdiction that wanted to use that testimony in a criminal prosecution, but I have never personally researched that legal question.

The issue would probably be framed as one of whether Pecker had voluntarily waived his 5th Amendment rights, which would probably not be the case if he testified pursuant to a subpoena and was not allowed to claim the 5th Amendment due to a prosecutor's unilateral grant of use immunity. In other words, used of his testimony or fruits of it would probably have a treatment similar to a confession obtained with a Miranda violation.

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  • I would be surprised if Pecker couldn't take the Fifth if (in a terrible extreme example, just hypothetical) he had killed one of Trumps' enemies and then were asked whether he did that, but I'm obviously no lawyer. Also, according to your reference, it looks like Pecker has no immunity to state governments prosecuting him.
    – bobuhito
    Commented Apr 26 at 17:17
  • @bobuhito "I would be surprised if Pecker couldn't take the Fifth if (in a terrible extreme example, just hypothetical) he had killed one of Trumps' enemies and then were asked whether he did that" This scenario is actually quite a common one in organized crime and gang prosecutions. "according to your reference, it looks like Pecker has no immunity to state governments prosecuting him." The way that that paragraph is written is somewhat misleading. It discusses federal prosecutions (which this one is not) where use immunity but not derivative immunity is granted for a non-5th Amend. reason.
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Apr 26 at 17:26
  • Honestly, if I were Pecker and there was this ambiguity, I would still just stay silent and let the judge repeatedly reprimand me, possibly punish me for "contempt of court", whatever the judge wants to do. It seems easy to fight for his civil right to stay silent, and/or his civil duty to protect customers, and/or just drag it on until prosecutors give up.
    – bobuhito
    Commented Apr 27 at 15:21
  • @bobuhito Most people don't share your comfort for spending weeks at Riker's Island jail until the trial is over for contempt of court.
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Apr 27 at 17:36

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