The Fifth Amendment protects an allegedly incapacitated man from being compelled to testify at a proceeding over whether to appoint a guardian to manage his property, a Dutchess County Supreme Court justice has ruled in In the Matter of G.P., 1932/2012, declining to follow a pair of appellate decisions.
Justice James Pagones (See Profile) ruled on July 26 that a man identified as G.P. could not be forced to testify in a proceeding brought by the county’s Department of Social Services pursuant to Article 81 of the New York Mental Hygiene Law, which pertains to guardianship of incapacitated persons.
