American Samoa § 2.1012 - Testimony.

§ 2.1012. Testimony.

(a) An investigating committee shall cause a record to be made of all proceedings in which testimony or other evidence 15 received or adduced, which record shall include rulings of the chair, questions of the committee and its staff, the testimony or responses of witnesses, sworn written statements which the committee authorizes a witness to submit, and such other matters as the committee or its chairman may direct. (b) All testimony given at a hearing shall be under oath or affirmation unless the requirement is dispensed with in a particular instance by majority vote of the committee members present at the hearing. (c) Any member of an investigating committee may administer an oath or affirmation to a witness. (d) The presiding officer at a hearing of an investigating committee may direct a witness to answer any relevant question or furnish any relevant book, paper, or other document. Unless the direction is overruled by majority vote of the committee members present, disobedience shall constitute grounds of citation for contempt, except that production of any book, paper, or other document may be required only by subpoena. (e) A witness at a hearing, or his counsel, with the consent of a majority of the committee members present at the hearing, may file with the committee for incorporation into the record of the hearing sworn written statements relevant to the purpose, subject matter, and scope of the committee’s investigation or inquiry. (f) A witness at a hearing, upon his advance request and at his own expense, shall be furnished a certified transcript of his testimony. (g) Testimony and other evidence given or adduced at a hearing closed to the public may not be made public unless authorized by majority vote of all of the members of the committee, which authorization shall also specify the form and manner in which the testimony or other evidence may be released. Nothing herein may be construed to prevent a witness or other supplier of evidence from disclosing such of his own testimony or other evidence concerning which only he could claim a privilege against disclosure.