People v. Partee
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The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeal affirming Defendant's conviction of four felony counts of accessory after the fact to murder and one misdemeanor count of contempt of court, holding that a witness's refusal to testify in the face of a valid subpoena, while punishable as contempt, does not by itself amount to harboring, concealing, or aiding a principal within the meaning of Cal. Penal Code 32.
On appeal, Defendant argued that her failure to testify did not support the accessory conviction because her silence did not fulfill the "overt or affirmative assistance" requirement of the crime of accessory. The Supreme Court agreed and reversed, holding that Defendant's silence did not constitute overt or affirmative assistance and did not transform her misdemeanor offense of contempt into four felony offenses of accessory after the fact to murder.
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