PIERCE WILL RECEIVE IMMUNITY, IF HE TESTIFIES

A surprising number of New York lawyers reside in this corner of cyberspace (business apparently is slow, what with the whole implosion of Wall Street), and several have been sharing with us information regarding the Plaxico Burress situation that we generally haven’t had the time to investigate or share. But here’s one that we haven’t seen in media reports, and that has a major bearing on the status of Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce. As it turns out, if Pierce testifies before a grand jury in connection with the Plaxico Burress case, Pierce automatically receives immunity. According to Section 190.40 of the New York Criminal Procedure, “Every witness in a grand jury proceeding must give any evidence legally requested of him regardless of any protest or belief on his part that it may tend to incriminate him. . . . A witness who gives evidence in a grand jury proceeding receives immunity . . . .” There are exceptions, of course. For example, if Pierce were to spontaneously blurt out “I killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman,” Pierce wouldn’t be immune from prosecution. But none of the exceptions would seem to apply here. So, bottom line, if this law applies to Pierce’s predicament, prosecutors don’t have to worry about whether doing a deal with Pierce would expose him to aggressive cross-examination from Plaxico’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, who would pounce on the possibility that Pierce was puffing about Plax in order to preserve his own patooty. If this law applies here, prosecutors can’t do a deal with Pierce, because they subsequently can’t charge him with anything. Unless Pierce blurts out, “I killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.” We’re not announcing, reporting, or proclaiming that the law in question applies, primarily because, if it does, there wouldn’t be a sense of ambiguity in the media accounts and quotes from those involved that Pierce could still be prosecuted if he testifies before the grand jury. If the law in question applies, Pierce secures for himself a pass if he testifies before the grand jury. That day could be coming. Pierce will meet today with investigators, according to the Associated Press. And his lawyer has made it clear that, if subpoenaed, Pierce will testify. “Antonio has always taken a position that he will be cooperative in the investigation with law enforcement,” Michael Bachner said, per the Associated Press. “Should Antonio be subpoenaed to the grand jury, and we have no idea that is going to happen, but if he is, he is going to abide by his obligations as a citizen.”