Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: testifying

A subpoena is a court order which must be obeyed. If you want to determine if there is any lawful way to avoid testifying, you should contact an attorney.

Re: testifying

You live in the United States of America and enjoy all the rights, responsibilities, and freedoms of the greatest democracy in world.

One of those responsibilities is obeying the law. So, when you get a subpoena from a court of law that says "You are commanded to appear", guess what?

You must show up or the court will hold you in contempt and could issue a warrant for your arrest or have you picked up. If your testimony will tend to incriminate you, you can always plead the 5th.

Just because you're called doesn't mean you'll have to testify. Many cases plead out before the trial starts.

William Morrison

Re: testifying

Here's another way of looking at it: you are not being asked to "testify against" someone. You are being ordered to appear in court to testify to the TRUTH of whatever you know happened. Whether your truth is used "for" or "against" a party is up to the parties (through their lawyers).

To get out of appearing persuant to the subpoena, you usually have to file a motion with the court to "quash" the subpoena and give a good reason why (eg, you were not properly served, you have no relevant information for the trial court to hear, etc.). But "because I don't want to testify against the defendant" is not a good enough reason.