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House adopts substitute to add 'use immunity' option for witnesses in prosecutions
Summary
Representative Gladwell sponsored a substitute to House Bill 78 to introduce use immunity in Utah, allowing compelled testimony while barring prosecutorial use of that testimony or its derivatives; the House accepted a pink‑sheet amendment and passed the substitute.
The House on Feb. 18 approved a substituted version of House Bill 78 that introduces the concept of "use immunity" for witnesses who invoke Fifth Amendment protections. Representative Gladwell, sponsor of the substitute, explained the distinction between absolute (transactional) immunity and the narrower use immunity the bill would authorize.
"When a witness wants to or refuses to testify or give evidence based upon a claim of self‑incrimination, the witness may nevertheless be required to give the evidence if the witness is granted immunity," Gladwell said. He explained that under use immunity prosecutors would be barred from using the compelled testimony or evidence derived from it, but could prosecute later if independent evidence were found.
Gladwell said the bill defines who may grant immunity, prescribes procedures for grants, and imposes a burden on prosecutors to show that any later evidence used in prosecution was developed independently of the immunized testimony. Gladwell also said the Statewide Association of Prosecutors and law‑enforcement legislative groups had been contacted, and he reported no defense‑bar objection after consultation.
The House accepted a pink‑sheet amendment that incorporated committee amendments and introduced quasi‑criminal provisions; the substituted and amended bill passed on the floor and was forwarded to the Senate.
