State v. Sinito

The central issue presented in this appeal is whether the immunity granted under R. C. 2945.441 is coextensive with the scope of the Fifth Amendment privilege against compulsory self-incrimination. If so, appellee’s refusal to testify, based upon the privilege, was unjustified and, except as noted hereinafter, the contempt finding was proper. Brown v. Walker (1896), 161 U. S. 591. Cf. McCarthy v. Arndstein (1924), 266 U. S. 34.

Immunity laws can be found in the statutory framework of every state,2 and, as characterized in Ullmann v. United States (1956), 350 U. S. 422, 438, they have “become…