Collections: Fifth Amendment Claim Denied in Civil Action

     The Hanover County Circuit Court, in the case of EVB v. Strum, denied a defendant’s motion to quash a summons for debtor’s interrogatories and subpoena duces tecum, in which the debtor asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

     The court ruled that there is no blanket Fifth Amendment right to refuse to answer questions in noncriminal proceedings. The privilege must be specifically claimed on a particular question in the debtor’s interrogatories, and the matter submitted to the court for its determination of the validity of the claim. Further, a defendant must assert his Fifth Amendment right in regard to each specific document in regard to a subpoena duces tecum, and the court must assess the claim as to each individual document.