Bud Dickman wrote:From VanMeter on another forum, Jose is not a piece of ........
[Snip complete and utter bullshit.]
I've seen this copout happen, live and in person, on multiple occasions.
No lawyer can make someone claim the privilege. The "someone" can politely thank the lawyer for the advice, then go his own way; or s/he can tell the lawyer to take the advice and shove it, and go his own way. This could take
seconds, and the key is the part about "going his own way".
What we have here is a bunch of internet Rambos who, when the chips are down, turn into courtroom pussies. Every one of them made his or her own decision. From their own asses' points of view, that decision was quite likely the right one. It appears likely that their testimony would have harmed (rather than helped) the Spurious Three in any event. But the decision to claim the privilege was theirs and no one else's.
In the unlikely event that any of them are reading this: Talk is cheap.