(25.06.2019)

Prosecutors were convinced that Gallagher stabbed the detainee to death and they knew that Scott was next to him that day, monitoring the boy’s vitals, so he became a very valuable witness, according to internal files provided to Navy Times.

But Scott told prosecutors and Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents that he didn’t want to participate in the trial and later threatened to remain silent during a Feb. 11 reinterview session with them, a policy he vowed to continue on the stand to protect his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

So Navy Region Southwest and the U.S. Department of Justice granted him testimonial immunity to hurdle his Fifth Amendment protections and force him to talk to investigators and later testify in court.