A grand jury charged Defendant Jose Fernando Rivas-Macias with: (1) conspiracy to possess, with the intent to distribute, five hundred grams or more of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) & 846; and (2) possessing, with the intent to distribute, five hundred grams or more of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). After a two-day trial, a petit jury convicted Defendant on both counts. Defendant raises two points of error on appeal.
First, Defendant argues the district court infringed his right to present a defense when it erroneously concluded that one of Defendant’s coconspirators, Alvaro Jimarez, retained his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. Jima-rez pled guilty shortly before Defendant’s trial. Subsequently, at the time of Defendant’s trial, Jimarez’s sentencing had not yet occurred. Jimarez had, however, debriefed the government on several occasions, in an attempt to qualify for a sentence below the mandatory, statutory minimum under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f). Defendant contends that by pleading guilty, and giving these unsworn statements, Jimarez waived his Fifth Amendment privilege. Consequently, Defendant claims the district court’s refusal to compel Jimarez to testify at his trial was in error.
Second, Defendant Rivas-Macias raises an alternative argument, suggesting the district court erred in failing, sua sponte, to continue his trial until after Jimarez’s sentencing. At that point, Defendant suggests, Jimarez’s Fifth Amendment privilege would no longer apply. Our jurisdiction over this appeal arises under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Finding no merit to Defendant’s points of error, we affirm.
I.
United States Border Patrol agents took Defendant Rivas-Macias, and a group of four other adults, into custody on an isolated roadway near Hatch, New Mexico. The suspects were traveling in two vehicles: a maroon Taurus and a gold Accord. Defendant Rivas-Macias was seated in the backseat of the Accord. Alvaro Jimarez, the driver of the Accord, and his cousin occupied the front of the car. Traveling in the Taurus were Sergio Serra, the driver, along with his wife and two small children. Both drivers consented to a canine inspection of their respective vehicles. A canine alerted underneath the rear of the Taurus. Subsequently, a border patrol agent discovered an “after-market compartment” in that location, which had recently been covered in black spray paint. Thereafter, agents transported both vehicles, and their passengers, to a border patrol checkpoint for further investigation.
Inside the compartment, which was rigged with an electronic opening device, agents found seven bundles of cocaine wrapped in various substances. A canine inspection of the Honda resulted in the discovery of a similar compartment. Although the compartment in the Honda was empty, agents noted that it was lined with aluminum tape, which drug smugglers often use to insulate spaces in which drugs are stored. 1
II.
A grand jury charged Jimarez, Defendant Rivas-Macias, and Serra with possessing cocaine, with the intent to distribute, and conspiracy to possess cocaine, with the intent to distribute. Jimarez initially pled not guilty, but later entered an unconditional guilty plea. Serra entered *1275 into a plea agreement with the Government. Defendant Rivas-Macias pled not guilty and proceeded to trial.
Serra served as the Government’s primary witness against Defendant Rivas-Macias at trial. Serra testified that he asked Jimarez if Jimarez knew how Serra could make some money. Jimarez put Serra into contact with a man named Carlos. Serra subsequently made at least two trips to Denver for Carlos, once to transport cocaine and once to pick up a shipment of money that never materialized. During Serra’s first drug run to Denver, Defendant Rivas-Macias followed him in a separate vehicle. Defendant then led Serra to an apartment complex where he delivered the cocaine.
Serra testified that Defendant Rivas-Macias was again present when Carlos gave him the maroon Taurus, which Serra was driving when border patrol agents took him into custody. According to Serra, the conspirators planned for Serra to switch vehicles with Jimarez and Defendant near Hatch, New Mexico. Jimarez and Defendant Rivas-Macias would then take the Taurus — laden with cocaine — to Denver, while Serra and his family took the Honda on a legitimate business trip elsewhere. According to Serra, after authorities took Defendant Rivas-Macias and Serra into custody, Defendant warned Serra not to rat him out.
In order to rebut Serra’s testimony, Defendant Rivas-Macias took the stand in his own defense. Defendant stated that he met Jimarez at a party. On the night in question, Defendant explained that he believed he was traveling to Albuquerque, with Jimarez, to inquire about a construction job. Defendant disclaimed any knowledge of a man named Carlos and denied telling Serra not to incriminate him.
Faced with this conflicting testimony, the jury had to determine whether Serra or Defendant Rivas-Macias was the more credible witness. Based on the content of Jimarez’s debriefing statements, Defendant’s trial counsel had reason to believe that Jimarez’s version of events differed significantly from Serra’s. 2 Consequently, Defendant’s trial counsel planned to use Jimarez’s testimony to impeach Serra. Jimarez was, in fact, on the Government’s witness list. Before the Government called Jimarez to the stand, however, his attorney notified the district court that Jimarez would invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, if called to the stand. Faced with precedent stating that a party may not call a witness to the stand merely to compel him to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege in front of the jury, the district court decided to examine Jimarez outside of the jury’s presence. 3 But Defendant’s trial counsel declined this course of action, indicating to the court: (1) the parties had agreed not to put Jimarez on the stand and (2) the Government planned to release Jimarez from its subpoena. 4 Subsequent *1276 ly, the district court did not examine Jima-rez concerning his invocation of the Fifth Amendment privilege. 5 Ultimately, neither party called Jimarez to the stand and the petit jury convicted Defendant Rivas-Macias on all counts.
III.
We first consider Defendant’s assertion that the district court erred in upholding Jimarez’s right to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, thus infringing upon Defendant’s constitutional right to present a defense.
6
Our review of matters of eonstitu-tional law is de novo.
See United States v. Dowlin,
A.
At the heart of this case lies two important constitutional values: (1) a witness’ privilege not to incriminate himself, and (2) a defendant’s right to establish a defense.
7
The former is grounded in the Fifth Amendment, which states that “[n]o person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.”
8
*1277
U.S. Const, amend. V. The latter is predicated on the Sixth Amendment’s confrontation and compulsory process clauses, as well as the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of due process.
See United States v. Markey,
On the one hand, an individual’s privilege against self-incrimination, rooted in our society’s “traditional respect for the individual,”
Maness v. Meyers,
Of course, an individual cannot avoid his duty to testify merely by voicing his own fears of self-incrimination and reciting the Fifth Amendment’s familiar terms.
See Hoffman v. United States,
On the other hand, a defendant’s right to present a defense is also a keystone of our legal system.
See United States v. Hernandez-Hernandez,
B.
Defendant Rivas-Macias contends the Fifth Amendment privilege was not available to Jimarez after he pled guilty and gave several unsworn, debriefing statements to authorities prior to Defendant’s trial. Whether an individual may properly invoke the privilege against self-incrimination is a question of law, which we review de novo.
See United States v. Bautista,
1.
We first examine whether Jim-arez faced some authentic danger of self-incrimination in testifying, before his sentencing, at Defendant’s trial. The Supreme Court has “broadly construed” the protection afforded by the Fifth Amendment privilege.
Maness,
Not much is required, therefore, to show an individual faces some authentic danger of self-incrimination,
see Castro,
Defendant Rivas-Macias cannot establish, with perfect clarity, that Jima-rez’s testimony at Defendant’s trial would have had no tendency to further incriminate him. The Supreme Court has recognized that an individual whose sentence “has not yet been imposed” has a “legitimate fear of adverse consequences” from testifying in a related judicial proceeding.
Mitchell,
2.
Next, we must determine whether Jimarez waived his Fifth Amendment privilege by pleading guilty and giving several unsworn, debriefing statements to the
*1280
Government prior to Defendant’s trial. An individual may lose the right to claim the Fifth Amendment privilege in three distinct ways. First, because the privilege “is not a self-executing mechanism; it can be affirmatively waived, or lost” if an individual fails to assert it “in a timely fashion.” Ma
ness,
Second, the privilege may also dissipate if the Government gives the individual immunity, such that he is protected from the “use of his compelled answers” and all “evidence derived therefrom in any subsequent criminal case in which he is a defendant.”
Lejkowitz v. Turley,
The Supreme Court has explained that pleading guilty to a crime is not analogous to the type of selective admission capable of waiving the privilege against self-incrimination.
See Mitchell,
That leaves Defendant’s claim that Jimarez’s unsworn statements to authorities, prior to Defendant’s trial, waived his right to claim the Fifth Amendment privilege, at least to the extent of his revelations to the Government. A witness’ testimonial waiver of the privilege is only effective, however, if it occurs in the
same proceeding
in which a party desires to compel the witness to testify.
See Constantine,
*1281
Defendant’s argument to the contrary is unpersuasive. The privilege against self-incrimination protects
against
a party forcing an individual to adopt, at trial, “his unsworn out-of-court confession.”
Silverstein,
IV.
Defendant Rivas-Macias also contends the district court erred in failing, sua sponte, to continue his trial until after Jimarez’s sentencing. Because Defendant failed to request a continuance below, we review only for plain error.
See United States v. Barrett,
District courts necessarily possess “broad discretion” in deciding whether to grant a party’s request for a continuance.
United States v. Flanders,
Defendant cites no authority, and we have found none, suggesting a district court is required,
sua sponte,
to continue a defendant’s trial until a witness invoking the Fifth Amendment privilege has been sentenced. Absent extraordinary circumstances, our adversarial system of justice imposes “an abiding duty” on each party to take the legal steps “necessary to protect his or her own interests.”
15
Cotto v. United States,
AFFIRMED. 16
Notes
. Agent Dooley testified at Defendant's trial that aluminum tape serves to cushion bundles of drugs during transport, while helping to contain the odor of illegal substances.
. The substance of Jimarez’s statements to the Government is not reflected in the record on appeal.
. Because a jury may not draw any legitimate inferences from a witness' decision to exercise his Fifth Amendment privilege, we have repeatedly held that neither the prosecution nor the defense may call a witness to the stand simply to compel him to invoke the privilege against self-incrimination.
See, e.g., United States v. Castorena-Jaime,
.Defendant's trial counsel stated: "We're not even going to bother. We're not going to even put him on the stand. I believe he is going to be released at this point from the [G]overnment's subpoena.”
.The district court must decide, in the first instance, whether a witness’ invocation of his Fifth Amendment privilege is justified.
See Castorena-Jaime, 285
F.3d at 931;
United States v. Nunez,
. Defendant failed to press the district court for an explicit ruling on this constitutional issue. Consequently, one could question the appropriateness of our review.
See United States v. Duncan,
. A defendant's collective right to testify, present defense witnesses, and cross-examine Government witnesses is commonly referred to as the right to present or establish a defense.
See United States v. Markey,
. Although the language of the Fifth Amendment speaks in terms of an individual serving as a “witness against himself,” courts have long held that the privilege against self-incrimination "protects a witness as well as an accused party.” 8 Wigmore on Evidence § 2252 (McNaughton rev.1961). Thus, “it is immaterial,” for purposes of the Fifth Amendment, "whether the prosecution” at hand is “against” the individual invoking the privilege.
Id.; see also Roach v. Nat’l Transp. Safety Bd.,
. Given the central importance of the accusa-torial nature of our system of justice, the privilege against self-incrimination applies "in any proceeding,” regardless of whether it
is
"civil or criminal, administrative or judicial, investigatory or adjudicatory.”
Maness,
. Of course, substantial interference, by the Government, with a defense witness’ decision to claim the privilege violates a defendant’s due process rights.
See Crawford,
.
See Mitchell,
. As the First Circuit cogently explained:
“We give short shrift to [Defendant’s] contention that the district court had an obligation to compel answers and then to forestall self-incrimination by severely limiting the scope of the government’s inquiry on cross-examination. We recognize, as [Defendant] asserts, that the Sixth Amendment assures a criminal defendant of the right to mount a defense — but that right must coexist with the government’s right to test the truth of testimony proffered by the defense through the medium of cross examination.”
... [0]n cross-examination, the government most assuredly would have explored the extent to which [Jimarez] himself was involved in the conspiracy in order to test his level of familiarity with the players. Such cross-examination would have required [Jimarez] to testify about any and all narcotics transactions that occurred in or about the same time frame. Though [Jima-rez] could not be prosecuted again for the conspiracy, he was not shielded from criminal liability for any substantive crimes which may have been the object of, or which were committed in the course of, that conspiracy.
... [W]hen honoring the Fifth Amendment privilege will preclude or unfairly circumscribe cross-examination as to non-collateral matters — and by "non-collateral matters” we mean matters that are both within the scope of the direct examination and of consequence to the resolution of the issues in the case — it is fully within the trial court’s discretion to sustain the claim of privilege and bar the witness’s testimony altogether.
Castro,
. "Requiring full disclosure of details after a witness freely testifies as to a criminating fact does not rest upon a further ‘waiver’ of the privilege against self-incrimination.”
Rogers,
.
See, e.g., United States v. Licavoli,
.
Cf. United States v. Mitchell,
. In light of our decision in this case, we deny the parties' Stipulated Motion to Supplement the Record on Appeal as moot.
