Court unanimous that witness’s federal right against self-incrimination not violated when transactional immunity granted for testimony
How later courts described this case
- Court unanimous that witness’s federal right against self-incrimination not violated when transactional immunity granted for testimony
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
MANDERINO, Justice,
concurring.
I join in the opinion of Mr. Justice Nix. In doing so, I am assuming for the purposes of this case only that the Act of November 22, 1968, P.L. 1080, 19 P.S. § 640.1, et seq. (Supp.1975-76), referred to as the Immunity Act, is not in violation of the Pennsylvania Constitution. I make the assumption because the appellants have raised no issue concerning the constitutionality of the Act. Under the Immunity Act ancient modes of extracting statements from people are replaced with coercion by incarceration. A witness testifying against an accused to avoid incarceration presents the same potential for perjury as a witness whose testimony is secured by use of the rack, the turning of the screw, or the payment of a monetary bribe. Using this kind of testimony to convict an accused raises serious due process questions. For this reason I wish to reserve judgment concerning whether the Act violates the Pennsylvania Constitution.