NORCOTT, J.
The primary issue raised in this writ of error is whether the trial court erred by holding the plaintiff in error (plaintiff) in criminal contempt of court for invoking his fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refusing to testify despite a grant of transactional immunity under General Statutes § 54-47a.
The plaintiff was convicted of criminal contempt in violation of General Statutes § 51-33a and sentenced to six months imprisonment, to be served consecutively to a sentence of seven years and five months imprisonment, followed by five years of special parole, that he already was serving after having pleaded guilty to other charges. The plaintiff's principal claim on appeal is that his conviction for criminal contempt violated his fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination because the transactional immunity granted to him under § 54-47a would not protect him from impeachment through his trial testimony at any subsequent trial on his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
The following facts, either found by the court or undisputed in the record, are relevant to our disposition of the plaintiff's claim. The plaintiff originally was charged along with a codefendant in connection with plans to commit a burglary. The plaintiff subsequently pleaded guilty to those charges and was serving his sentence when called as a witness for the state during the trial of his codefendant.
"Criminal contempt is conduct which is directed against the dignity and authority of the court.... Sanctions [for criminal contempt] are imposed in order to vindicate that authority.... The inherent power of the court to punish as a criminal contempt conduct that constitutes an affront to the court's dignity and authority is expressly recognized in our statutes; see General Statutes § 51-33a (a); and in our rules of practice. See Practice Book § 1-14." (Citations omitted; footnote omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Hardy v. Superior Court, 305 Conn. 824, 834-35, 48 A.3d 50 (2012).
Section 51-33a (a) provides that "[a]ny person who violates the dignity and authority of any court, in its presence or so near thereto as to obstruct the administration of justice, or any officer of any court who misbehaves in the conduct of his official duties shall be guilty of contempt and shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than six months or both."
The present case involves a review of a summary criminal contempt proceeding that comes before us on a writ of error, which is the sole method of review of such proceedings. See Martin v. Flanagan, 259 Conn. 487, 494, 789 A.2d 979 (2002). "The scope of our review reaches only those matters appearing as of record."
The parties dispute only whether the first of these three prongs was satisfied in this case. This prong, whether the designated conduct is legally susceptible of constituting a contempt, here, turns solely upon whether the plaintiff had a valid privilege against self-incrimination under the fifth amendment to the federal constitution. See id. (concluding that holding plaintiff in error in contempt improper when he had validly invoked privilege against self-incrimination). This latter inquiry turns upon whether the plaintiff received a legally sufficient guarantee of immunity from prosecution before being compelled to testify. See Kastigar v. United States, 406 U.S. 441, 453, 92 S.Ct. 1653, 32 L.Ed.2d 212 (1972) (holding that granting of use and derivative use immunity is sufficient to compel testimony over claim of privilege).
The fifth amendment to the federal constitution provides, in relevant part, that "[n]o person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself...." U.S. Const.amend. V. "The privilege... protects against any disclosures which the witness reasonably believes could be used in a criminal prosecution or could lead to other evidence that might be so used." Kastigar v. United States, supra, 406 U.S. at 444-45, 92 S.Ct. 1653. "To sustain the privilege, it need only be evident from the implications of the question, in the setting in which it is asked, that a responsive answer to the question or an explanation of why it cannot be answered might be dangerous because injurious disclosure could result." Hoffman v. United States, 341 U.S. 479, 486-87, 71 S.Ct. 814, 95 L.Ed. 1118 (1951).
The privilege against compulsory self-incrimination comprehended by the fifth amendment can be overcome, however, by a grant of immunity coextensive with the scope of the privilege. See Kastigar v. United States, supra, 406 U.S. at 453, 92 S.Ct. 1653. In Kastigar, the United States Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the federal witness immunity statute, 18 U.S.C. § 6002, which provides use and derivative use immunity. Id. The court reasoned: "The statute's explicit proscription of the use in any criminal case of testimony or other information compelled under the order (or any information directly or indirectly derived from such testimony or other information) is consonant with Fifth Amendment standards. We hold that such immunity from use and derivative use is coextensive with the scope of the privilege against self-incrimination, and therefore is sufficient to compel testimony over a claim of the privilege. While a grant of immunity must afford
Despite the fact that the fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination can be overcome by use and derivative use immunity, the legislature of this state has chosen to confer upon its courts the power to compel witnesses to testify on the granting of transactional immunity in certain circumstances. See General Statutes § 54-47a. Our Supreme Court has interpreted § 54-47a to require that if a trial court grants an application under the statute, the court must order transactional immunity for the witness. Furs v. Superior Court, 298 Conn. 404, 411, 3 A.3d 912 (2010).
In this case, the court granted the plaintiff transactional immunity, satisfying both § 54-47a and the fifth amendment.
The plaintiff also claims that the trial court erred by finding him in contempt because his conduct was not directed against the dignity and authority of the court, and it did not obstruct the orderly administration of justice. The plaintiff attempts to distinguish his own case from two cases in which the plaintiffs had outbursts or otherwise interrupted the proceedings through boisterous conduct. See Hardy v. Superior Court, supra, 305 Conn. 824, 48 A.3d 50; Brown v. Regan, 84 Conn.App. 100, 851 A.2d 1249, cert. denied, 271 Conn. 926, 859 A.2d 577 (2004). The plaintiff's argument fails because his attempt to distinguish these cases from his own shows only that there are multiple means to commit the offense of criminal contempt. The cases cited by the plaintiff illustrate one such means. The plaintiff's own case illustrates another. "[General Statutes] § 51-33 and its predecessors merely codify the court's inherent common law power to punish all contempts committed in its presence, including a refusal to testify." (Emphasis added.) Ullmann v. State, 230 Conn. 698, 705, 647 A.2d 324 (1994). A witness' unjustified refusal to testify "affront[s] the dignity and authority of the court." Id., at 707, 647 A.2d 324. Accordingly, as is the case with a profane outburst, a refusal to testify may be punished as criminal contempt.
Because the plaintiff received an adequate grant of immunity, the court properly found him in contempt because the grant of immunity removed his fifth amendment privilege against compulsory self-incrimination and thereby rendered his refusal to testify legally susceptible of constituting contempt.
The writ of error is dismissed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
"(b) Upon the issuance of the order such witness shall not be excused from testifying or from producing books, papers or other evidence in such case or proceeding on the ground that the testimony or evidence required of him may tend to incriminate him or subject him to a penalty or forfeiture. No such witness may be prosecuted or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture for or on account of any transaction, matter or thing concerning which he is compelled to testify or produce evidence, and no testimony or evidence so compelled, and no evidence discovered as a result of or otherwise derived from testimony or evidence so compelled, may be used as evidence against him in any proceeding, except that no witness shall be immune from prosecution for perjury or contempt committed while giving such testimony or producing such evidence...."