ABA Family Legal Guide

Criminal Justice

Court Procedures

Witnesses

What should I do if I receive a subpoena?

A subpoena or summons is a legal process compelling you to appear or to produce certain evidence before a court or a grand jury. As soon as you receive a subpoena, you should take certain steps to protect your interests. First, be sure to preserve all related documents so that you will not risk being charged with obstruction of justice. Find a lawyer and speak only to him or her about the subpoena. Do not confide in friends or contact others who may be in the same situation, since they may be cooperating with the authorities and could end up testifying in court against you.

If you receive a subpoena ordering you to appear in court or before a grand jury at a certain date and time, you must obey or risk being held in contempt of court and receiving a fine or a jail sentence. A contempt finding also could mean that you have to pay certain court costs for time lost because the case could not proceed.

The subpoena may compel you to produce an item you possess, instead of or in addition to your testimony. This subpoena duces tecum (SDT) compels you to produce certain evidence, usually in the form of documents. Before you obey this type of subpoena, call a lawyer. Depending on the content of the documents, you might be able to fight the subpoena as forced self-incrimination. Or, based upon the items listed in the subpoena, your lawyer may be able to offer your cooperation to the authorities in an effort to show that no crime has been committed or that you were not part of it.

In some cases, your lawyer may be able to negotiate a deal in which you are granted immunity in return for producing the documents. The Supreme Court has determined that if you respond to a government subpoena seeking discovery of sources of potentially incriminating documents in exchange for being granted immunity, the government cannot use the fact that you produced the documents against you.

Do not deal with the authorities yourself. Your lawyer will need to ensure that your cooperation will not be used against you at a later date.