[Go Gordon]

You also cannot, after claiming the 5th and making a statement, answer a question from the chair and then just clam up.

For the sake of arguement, why not? Is the 5th Amendment conditional, or absolute? You either have a right to not self-incriminate, or you don't. Afterall, answering some questions can't lead to self-incrimination, while others might.

[kenavi]

That’s what I thought as well. A witness, or a defendant, can be called up to the stand, answer some questions, and to others invoke his right not to self-incriminate. Bravo to you.

[hsalaw]

Lerner's problem isn't that she answered some questions and not others; it's that she made statements of fact about her innocence and lack of knowledge, and then asserted the 5th.

There are at least two things wrong with this:

A witness can't make factual statements on matters as to which the witness has asserted the 5th, or that witness has waived his/her right to the 5th; and

If she's innocent and knows nothing about what went on, why assert the 5th at all? If she knows nothing and did nothing wrong, as she claimed in her statement, her testimony can't expose her to any criminal proceedings.