Rhode Island General Laws 39-4-21. Privilege against self-incrimination
No person shall be excused from testifying or from producing any books, accounts, papers, records, or documents in any investigation or inquiry by, or upon any hearing before, the division or member thereof when ordered to do so by the division or member, upon the ground that the testimony or evidence, accounts, papers, records, books, or documents, required of him or her may tend to incriminate him or her or subject him or her to penalty or forfeiture; but no person shall be prosecuted, punished, or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture for or on account of any act, transaction, matter, or thing concerning which he or she shall, under oath, by order of the division or a member thereof, have testified or produced the documentary evidence; provided, that no person so testifying shall be exempt from prosecution or punishment for any perjury committed by him or her in his or her testimony. Nothing contained in this section is intended to give or shall be construed as in any manner giving any corporation immunity of any kind from the law.
History of Section.
P.L. 1912, ch. 795, § 16; G.L. 1923, ch. 253, § 16; G.L. 1938, ch. 122, § 13; G.L. 1956, § 39-4-21; P.L. 1997, ch. 326, § 107.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 39-4-21
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Division: means the division of public utilities and carriers. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1-2
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.