In In re Leavitt (1959) 174 Cal. App. 2d 535, the defendant was ordered to appear for a judgment debtor's examination, which was to occur several weeks before a contempt hearing concerning his failure to pay court-ordered alimony. At the judgment debtor's examination, the defendant asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination in response to questions regarding his finances, and was found in contempt for refusing to answer those questions. In granting the defendant's petition for writ of habeas corpus, the appellate court held that he had a right to claim the privilege against self-incrimination at the judgment debtor's examination. The court emphasized the extant contempt proceedings, the criminal nature of contempt of court, and the likelihood that defendant's testimony about his financial situation would have furnished " 'a link in the chain of evidence' necessary to make defendant guilty of contempt." ( Id. at p. 538.)