Court finds plaintiff waived 5th amendment right in civil case
Terrell Roberts represented the plaintiffs, Ronald and Anne Moser, in the civil case, which ended up with a decision in the Mosers’ favor in Maryland Court of Appeals. The Mosers were the victims of an embezzlement and theft by their bookkeeper, whose crimes they reported to the police. Oddly, the bookkeeper sued the Mosers for defamation, which was nothing short of a scheme to pressure the Mosers to back away from their criminal complaint. This did not work. The decision of the Court of Appeals affirms the principle that a party who gives a deposition in a civil case cannot in the same proceeding invoke the Fifth Amendment at the trial of the civil matter.