Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
Can witnesses who never testified in a prior criminal case where defendant pleaded a Nolo be used by Plaintiff in a different unrelated future case that is Civil? Defendant, because he pleaded Nolo in the Criminal Case (misdemeanor) never got to dispute what was in police reports or detective reports. The Criminal case involved only the City Attorney pressing charges against the Defendant. There were no charges brought by any supposed victim. Can the alleged victim who didn't press charges be brought in to testify in a current unrelated Civil case. Plaintiff's Attorney is doing this to try to discredit character of Defendant in the Civil case based on the past occurrence.
2 Answers from Attorneys
A plea of nolo prevents the guilty plea itself from being used in a subsequent civil case. It does not prohibit witnesses from being called against the defendant in a subsequent civil case.
Yes, witnesses can be subpoenaed for any other case, and have to comply and testify under penalty of contempt of court, unless they plead 5th Amendment protection.
Apparently you are trying to represent yourself. If you don't know how to represent yourself effectively against an experienced attorney intending to defeat you and win his case, then hire an attorney who does, who will defend you, try to get a decent outcome through motions and procedures, or take it to trial if appropriate. If serious about hiring counsel to help in this, and if this is in SoCal courts, feel free to contact me. I�ll be happy to help fight and get the best outcome possible, using whatever defenses and sympathies there may be. I�ve been doing such litigation cases for many years.
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