Ohio v. Reiner, 532 U.S. 17, 4 (2001) (per curiam)

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20

OHIO v. REINER

Per Curiam

[trial] testimony did not incriminate her, because she denied any involvement in the abuse. Thus, she did not have a valid Fifth Amendment privilege." 89 Ohio St. 3d, at 355, 731 N. E. 2d, at 675 (emphasis in original). The court emphasized that the defense's theory of Batt's guilt was not grounds for a grant of immunity, "when the witness continues to deny any self-incriminating conduct." Ibid.

The Supreme Court of Ohio's decision that Batt was wrongly granted immunity under § 2945.44 (and consequently, that reversal of respondent's conviction was required) rested on the court's determination that Batt did not have a valid Fifth Amendment privilege. In discussing the contours of that privilege, the court relied on our precedents. We have observed that "this Court retains a role when a state court's interpretation of state law has been influenced by an accompanying interpretation of federal law." Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold Reservation v. Wold Engineering, P. C., 467 U. S. 138, 152 (1984). The decision at issue "fairly appears . . . to be interwoven with the federal law," and no adequate and independent state ground is clear from the face of the opinion. Michigan v. Long, 463 U. S. 1032, 1040-1041 (1983). We have jurisdiction over a state-court judgment that rests, as a threshold matter, on a determination of federal law. See Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Thompson, 478 U. S. 804, 816 (1986) ("[T]his Court retains power to review the decision of a federal issue in a state cause of action"); St. Louis, I. M. & S. R. Co. v. Taylor, 210 U. S. 281, 293-294 (1908).

The Fifth Amendment provides that "[n]o person . . . shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." U. S. Const., Amdt. 5. As the Supreme Court of Ohio acknowledged, this privilege not only extends "to answers that would in themselves support a conviction . . . but likewise embraces those which would furnish a link in the chain of evidence needed to prosecute the claimant." Hoffman, 341 U. S., at 486. "[I]t need only be evident from the

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