Legal Question in Criminal Law in Tennessee

Re: What's the worst outcome for not being in court receiving subpneona in mail

If you have been subpoenaed to appear in court, you must appear or you could be found to be in contempt of court. I you are testifying before the court under oath, you must tell the truth or you could be charged with perjury. If telling the truth on the witness stand could expose you to criminal prosecution due to your answers, you may be able to assert your 5th Amendment Privilege against self-incrimination. If there is any reason that you should not testify, if you think that your testimony may tend to incriminate you, you need a lawyer. Contact my office at TennesseeDefense.com to make an appointment.

Re: What's the worst outcome for not being in court receiving subpneona in mail

Because such situations frequently involve even the victim doing something to provoke the person who is charged, and frequently doing something which would technically constitute an assault, and since when the police arrive and take the victim's statement it is very easy to unintentionally exagerate is describing what happened, and since if when you are in court your testimony might not perfectly match what you told the police initially, and since when that happens police CAN arrest you and charge you with filing a false report, my experience in such cases is that you can generally in good faith assert the 5th Amendment and refuse to testify.... but you need an attorney there for you to do it, or most judges and prosecuting attorneys will bully you into testifying.