Louisiana § RS 29:147 - Article 47. Refusal to appear or testify

§ RS 29:147. Article 47. Refusal to appear or testify

            A.(1) Any person described in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection who:

            (a) Has been duly subpoenaed to appear as a witness or to produce books and records before a military court or before any military or civil officer designated to take a deposition to be read in evidence before such a court;

            (b) Has been duly paid or tendered the fees and mileage of a witness at the rates allowed to witnesses attending the courts of the state; and

            (c) Willfully neglects or refuses to appear, or refuses to qualify as a witness or to testify or to produce any evidence which that person may have been legally subpoenaed to produce;

            (d) Is guilty of an offense against the state.

            (2) For purposes of this Article, "person" shall mean the following:

            (a) Any person not subject to this Chapter who:

            (i) Is issued a subpoena or other process described in Article 46(C) of this Code; and

            (ii) Is provided a means for reimbursement from the government for fees and mileage at the rate allowed to witnesses attending the district courts of this state or, in the case of extraordinary hardship, is advanced such fees and mileage.

            (b) Any person not subject to this Code who is issued a subpoena or other process described in Article 46(D) of this Code.

            B. Any person who commits an offense named in Subsection A of this Article shall be tried on information in a state district court and jurisdiction is conferred upon those courts for that purpose. Upon conviction, such a person shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.

            C. The district attorney shall, upon the certification of the facts to him by the military court, file a bill of information against and prosecute any person violating this Article.

            D. The fees and mileage of witnesses shall be advanced or paid out of the appropriations for the compensation of witnesses.

            Acts 1974, No. 621, §1; Acts 2019, No. 373, §1.