Burnette v. Stanton

Petitioner, Hugh Burnette, is charged with the DUI manslaughter of David Stanton. Stanton’s estate has also sued Bur-nette for wrongful death. Burnette seeks certiorari review of a discovery order in the civil case which requires him to answer interrogatories and a request to produce, despite his assertion of the Fifth Amendment privilege.

The Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination may be asserted during discovery when a litigant has reasonable grounds to believe that the response to a discovery request would fur*729nish a link in the chain of evidence needed to prove a crime against…