# Carter v. United States

> District of Columbia Court of Appeals · October 24, 1996 · 684 A.2d 331

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9752636

## Case

- **Full name:** George E. CARTER, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES, Appellee
- **Court:** District of Columbia Court of Appeals
- **Decided:** October 24, 1996
- **Citations:** 684 A.2d 331; 1996 D.C. App. LEXIS 225; 1996 WL 609052
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Terry
- **Judges:** Wagner, Ferren, Terry, Steadman, Schwelb, King, Ruiz, Gallagher
- **Cited by:** 49 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9752636

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- noting that “where competing constitutional rights are asserted, it is the trial court’s responsibility to avoid a conflict between them and to accommodate all of them, if at all possible,” and that “all the participants at trial, under the guidance of the trial court, must ac…

## Opinion text

TERRY, Associate Judge,
concurring:
As I read what Judge Gallagher has written, he is not saying that the trial court has the power to grant immunity to a witness over the objection of the prosecution. Indeed, he could not, for the Supreme Court has made it absolutely clear that “[n]o court has authority to immunize a witness.” Pittsburg Co. v. Conboy, 459 U.S. 248, 261 , 103 S.Ct. 608, 616 , 74 L.Ed.2d 430 (1983). Unwavering case law in the District of Columbia is to the same effect. See, e.g., Taylor v. United States, 603 A.2d 451, 460 (D.C.) (citing cases), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 852 , 113 S.Ct. 155 , 121 L.Ed.2d 105 (1992); United States v. Lugg, 282 U.S.App. D.C. 85, 88, 892 F.2d 101, 104 (1989) (recognizing the “universal rule” that only the executive branch has the power to grant immunity and holding that the trial court “had no power” to do so). With that understanding, I join in the court’s opinion.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9752636. Public record. Not legal advice.