What legal form to file if can not be a witness due to not remembering

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What legal form to file if can not be a witness due to not remembering

I am suppose to be a witness in a couple
of my fiancees charges, I can not
honestly rememeber my statment due to
being in shock and confused, I also
believeve I was pushed into some of the
statements and some statement the
officer put in his reports were not
accurate.

Asked on January 16, 2018 under Criminal Law, Tennessee

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 6 years ago | Contributor

There is no "form" to file and you still can and must be a witness if subpoenaed (issued a legal summons or paper to appear and testify). You cannot escape testifying by claiming lack of memory: all you can do is testify honestly to the best of your knowledge. It is permitted to say "I don't remember" or "I am not sure." You can refuse to answer specific questions if the answers could incriminate you personally criminally--i.e. support criminal charges against you. However, you still need to appear and in response to each question that could incriminate you, say "I refuse to answer on the basis of the 5th Amendment" or something similar, invoking that right.
If an officer wrote down some of your answers or information incorrectly before, if you did not sign the report (thereby essentially swearing to its accuracy), you may have to say something like "the officer didn't understand what I said" or "the officer did not record my answer correctly." If you did not sign the report, it's how another person recorded what you said, not what you certified to. The court may choose to believe the earlier records vs. what you say now, but there is nothing you can do about that.
If you did sign the report (or otherwise previously give information or testimony under oath), it becomes more sensitive--you could be accused of perjury, since you did essentially affirm that the information was correct. If this occured, retain an attorney and go over the potential discrepancies with him/her, and let he/she advise you how to answer.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

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