I’ve been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury as a witness. What does this mean and what should I do?

If you’ve been subpoenaed as a witness in front of a grand jury what that means is a grand jury is investigating a criminal case or believes somebody has engaged in some type of criminal activity that you may be a witness to or may be able to provide evidence in support of that claim.

But if you’ve received that subpoena, my advice would be to consult with an experienced federal criminal defense attorney for a couple of reasons. One, you want to make sure that you’re not the subject of that criminal investigation because if you are you have an absolute right to invoke your right to remain silent and not testify at the grand jury. Also by hiring an attorney, they can consult with the prosecutor to find out the nature and scope of your testimony and limit it to just those facts that they need and so that way that can protect you as well.

So my advice is if you’ve been subpoenaed, talk to an experienced criminal defense attorney so you know whether or not you need to invoke your right to remain silent and whether or not you’re simply going to remain as a witness or is there a potential that you can become a target of the criminal investigation and later on a defendant.