I just couldn't believe she had dozens of pages printed out from INGO with tabs, yellow highlighter and all. She handed it to me and asked me to read it. By that time I was so flustered, I couldn't read anything. Blood pressure was up, glasses were steaming, all I could see for sure was pictures of my bird dog in the left column of every page! She didn't like it when the judge allowed me to take the 5th and not admit to anything in the contents. Looking back, I probably could have objected because it was not listed in her list of evidence.
No, you would not have had a valid objection because it was not evidence she was introducing on direct and so it is not discoverable. She only needs to discover what she intends to present as direct evidence during her case. Materials used to impeach you, like it appears she used them are not discoverable because quite frankly only you know what you are going to say and so those contradictory statements only come in after you open the door to them.
I once saw a criminal defendant get up and testify and then the deputy prosecutor proceeded to play some of the defendant's podcasts for the jury which contradicted his testimony. He didn't have to discover those because they only came in because the defendant testified in contradiction to them.
Also, your 5th Amendment stand is pretty easy to defeat in a case like this and I don't know that your objection was properly sustained. Unless writing this thread was a crime in itself, asking you if you wrote it probably isn't going to fall under the 5th Am. Also, there are ways the prosecutor can grant you criminal immunity for any statements you make and poof, you can be compelled to testify. She probably didn't bother in this case because she already knew she was winning without it.
You should also keep in mind that this whole thread opens you up to potential future criminal liability and also could definitely be used against you should you testify in such a criminal case. Once you take the stand in your defense, the 5th Am. doesn't apply. Normally, jeopardy doesn't attach based upon a civil infraction under current Indiana and Federal caselaw so you sit open to potential criminal charges until the statutes of limitation run which is 5 years on a D felony and 2 years on a misdemeanor.
I have seldom seen such a trainwreck.
Joe
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