CACI No. 216. Exercise of Right Not to Incriminate Oneself (Evid. Code, § 913)
Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (2024 edition)
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216.Exercise of Right Not to Incriminate Oneself (Evid. Code,
§ 913)
[Name of party/witness] has an absolute constitutional right not to give
testimony that might tend to incriminate [himself/herself/nonbinary
pronoun]. Do not consider, for any reason at all, the fact that [name of
party/witness] invoked the right not to testify. Do not discuss that fact
during your deliberations or let it influence your decision in any way.
New September 2003; Revised December 2012
Directions for Use
The privilege against self-incrimination may be asserted in a civil proceeding.
(Kastigar v. United States (1972) 406 U.S. 441, 444 [92 S.Ct. 1653, 32 L.Ed.2d
212]; People v. Merfeld (1997) 57 Cal.App.4th 1440, 1443 [67 Cal.Rptr.2d 759].)
Under California law, neither the court nor counsel may comment on the fact that a
witness has claimed a privilege, and the trier of fact may not draw any inference
from the refusal to testify as to the credibility of the witness or as to any matter at
issue in the proceeding. (Evid. Code, § 913(a); see People v. Doolin (2009) 45
Cal.4th 390, 441-442 [87 Cal.Rptr.3d 209, 198 P.3d 11].)
Therefore, the issue of a witness’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment right not to
self-incriminate is raised outside the presence of the jury, and the jury is not
informed of the matter. This instruction is intended for use if the circumstances
presented in a case result in the issue being raised in the presence of the jury and a
party adversely affected requests a jury instruction. (See Evid. Code, § 913(b).)
Sources and Authority
• No Presumption From Exercise of Fifth Amendment Privilege. Evidence Code
section 913.
• Privilege to Refuse to Disclose Incriminating Information. Evidence Code
section 940.
• “[I]n any proceeding, civil or criminal, a witness has the right to decline to
answer questions which may tend to incriminate him in criminal activity.”
(Cramer v. Tyars (1979) 23 Cal.3d 131, 137 [151 Cal.Rptr. 653, 588 P.2d 793],
internal citation omitted.)
• “A defendant may not bring a civil action to a halt simply by invoking the
privilege against self-incrimination.” (Oiye v. Fox (2012) 211 Cal.App.4th 1036,
1055 [151 Cal.Rptr.3d 65].)
• “[T]he privilege may not be asserted by merely declaring that an answer will
incriminate; it must be ‘evident from the implications of the question, in the
setting in which it is asked, that a responsive answer to the question or an
explanation of why it cannot be answered might be dangerous because injurious
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disclosure could result.’ ” (Troy v. Superior Court (1986) 186 Cal.App.3d 1006,
1010-1011 [231 Cal.Rptr. 108], internal citations omitted.)
• “The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution includes a provision
that ‘[no] person . . . shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness
against himself, . . . .’ Although the specific reference is to criminal cases, the
Fifth Amendment protection ‘has been broadly extended to a point where now it
is available even to a person appearing only as a witness in any kind of
proceeding where testimony can be compelled.’ ” (Brown v. Superior Court
(1986) 180 Cal.App.3d 701, 708 [226 Cal.Rptr. 10], citation and footnote
omitted.)
• “There is no question that the privilege against self-incrimination may be
asserted by civil defendants who face possible criminal prosecution based on the
same facts as the civil action. ‘All matters which are privileged against
disclosure upon the trial under the law of this state are privileged against
disclosure through any discovery procedure.’ ” (Brown, supra, 180 Cal.App.3d at
p. 708, internal citations omitted.)
• “California law, then, makes no distinction between civil and criminal litigation
concerning adverse inferences from a witness’s invocation of the privilege
against self-incrimination; under Evidence Code section 913, juries are forbidden
to make such inferences in both types of cases. No purpose is served, therefore,
in either type of trial by forcing a witness to exercise the privilege on the stand
in the jury’s presence, for . . . the court would then be ‘required, on request, to
instruct the jury not to draw the very inference [the party calling the witness]
sought to present to the jury.” (People v. Holloway (2004) 33 Cal. 4th 96, 131
[14 Cal.Rptr.3d 212, 91 P.3d 164], internal citations omitted.)
• “The privilege against self-incrimination is guaranteed by both the federal and
state Constitutions. As pointed out by the California Supreme Court, ‘two
separate and distinct testimonial privileges’ exist under this guarantee. First, a
defendant in a criminal case ‘has an absolute right not to be called as a witness
and not to testify.’ Second, ‘in any proceeding, civil or criminal, a witness has
the right to decline to answer questions which may tend to incriminate him [or
her] in criminal activity.’ ” (People v. Merfeld, supra, 57 Cal.App.4th at p. 1443,
internal citations omitted.)
• “The jury may not draw any inference from a witness’s invocation of a privilege.
Upon request, the trial court must so instruct jurors. ‘To avoid the potentially
prejudicial impact of having a witness assert the privilege against self-
incrimination before the jury, we have in the past recommended that, in
determining the propriety of the witness’s invocation of the privilege, the trial
court hold a pretestimonial hearing outside the jury’s presence.’ Such a
procedure makes sense under the appropriate circumstances. If there is a dispute
about whether a witness may legitimately rely on the Fifth Amendment privilege
against self-incrimination to avoid testifying, that legal question should be
resolved by the court. Given the court’s ruling and the nature of the potential
testimony, the witness may not be privileged to testify at all, or counsel may
EVIDENCE CACI No. 216
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elect not to call the witness as a matter of tactics.” (People v. Doolin, supra, 45
Cal.4th at pp. 441-442, original italics, internal citations omitted.)
• “Once a court determines a witness has a valid Fifth Amendment right not to
testify, it is, of course, improper to require him to invoke the privilege in front
of a jury; such a procedure encourages inappropriate speculation on the part of
jurors about the reasons for the invocation. An adverse inference, damaging to
the defense, may be drawn by jurors despite the possibility the assertion of
privilege may be based upon reasons unrelated to guilt.” (Victaulic Co. v.
American Home Assurance Co. (2018) 20 Cal.App.5th 948, 981 [229 Cal.Rptr.3d
545].)
Secondary Sources
2 Witkin, California Evidence (5th ed. 2012) Witnesses, § 98
5 Levy et al., California Torts, Ch. 72, Discovery, §§ 72.20, 72.30 (Matthew Bender)
Cotchett, California Courtroom Evidence, § 18.09 (Matthew Bender)
3 California Trial Guide, Unit 51, Privileges, § 51.32 (Matthew Bender)
16 California Forms of Pleading and Practice, Ch. 191, Discovery: Privileges and
Other Discovery Limitations, § 191.30 et seq. (Matthew Bender)
1 California Deposition and Discovery Practice, Ch. 21, Privileged Matters in
General, § 21.20, Ch. 22, Privilege Against Self-Incrimination (Matthew Bender)
California Judges Benchbook: Civil Proceedings - Trial § 8.34 (Cal CJER 2019)
CACI No. 216 EVIDENCE
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