Juan Carlos Reyes v. Commonwealth of Virginia
66 Va. App. 689
| Va. Ct. App. | 2016Background
- Victim was surrounded and stabbed outside a bar on August 23, 2014; he suffered serious, permanent injury.
- Appellant Juan Carlos Reyes was identified by the victim from a photo array and charged with aggravated malicious wounding and malicious wounding as a mob member; convicted after jury trial.
- Co-defendant Marcus Guevara pled guilty to unlawful wounding and agreed in his plea to testify for the Commonwealth; he had not been sentenced at the time of Reyes’s trial.
- Reyes sought to compel Guevara to testify for the defense, claiming Guevara had previously made exculpatory statements that Reyes was not present.
- Guevara invoked the Fifth Amendment; the trial court required a question-by-question proffer, then allowed Guevara to assert the privilege, concluding answers could expose him to greater punishment at sentencing or federal prosecution.
- Reyes appealed, arguing his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment right to compulsory process was violated when Guevara was permitted to refuse to testify; the Court of Appeals reviewed de novo and affirmed.
Issues
| Issue | Reyes's Argument | Commonwealth/Guevara's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether Reyes’s Sixth Amendment right to compulsory process was violated when Guevara invoked the Fifth Amendment and was not compelled to testify | Guevara’s prior statements were exculpatory and the court should have compelled his testimony (or granted use immunity) | A witness may invoke the Fifth Amendment; Guevara still faced sentencing exposure and potential federal exposure; the court properly evaluated each question | Court held no violation; trial court properly balanced Reyes’s right to witnesses against Guevara’s Fifth Amendment privilege and allowed him to decline to testify |
| Whether the trial court erred by not granting immunity to compel Guevara’s testimony | Reyes argued the court could have granted use immunity to overcome the privilege | No request for judicially granted immunity was made at trial; Reyes failed to preserve the claim on appeal | Court declined to consider immunity argument because Reyes did not request it below and did not preserve the issue |
Key Cases Cited
- Hoffman v. United States, 341 U.S. 479 (privilege extends to answers that would furnish a link in the chain of evidence; protection limited to reasonable fear of incrimination)
- United States v. Apfelbaum, 445 U.S. 115 (absent immunity, witness may invoke Fifth Amendment)
- Dearing v. Commonwealth, 259 Va. 117 (defendant may not compel co-defendant who invokes Fifth Amendment to testify)
- Carter v. Commonwealth, 39 Va. App. 735 (trial court must evaluate proffered questions individually; witness does not have a blanket right to refuse)
- Mitchell v. United States, 526 U.S. 314 (if sentence not yet imposed, witness may have legitimate fear of adverse consequences from further testimony)