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Eh... The prosecution claims, and the judge believes, that they have a list of files they expect to find on the drive. If he gives them a password and those files don't appear, the judge will conclude he gave them the wrong password, and he will stay put until the right password is produced.

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So you mean, if he floats, he's a witch, and they burn him, and if he sinks, he's innocent but he drowns?

That's not how this works. With deniable encryption, it is entirely possible that there doesn't even exist a hidden volume to find. They will be unable to prove he has a hidden volume and surely a judge will not compel him for not producing something he may not be able to at all.

Check out, for example, the case of Martin Armstrong, held for 7 years in contempt of court for not producing items he said he didn't have. Eventually he had to enter a plea agreement and serve an additional 5-year term.

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