I hate to piggyback on the top comment, but could somebody explain the 5th Amendment and its implications here.
I'm not a lawyer, nor am I from the USA. I've heard of the fifth, but never fully understood it in scenarios like this.
I'm not a lawyer, nor am I from the USA. I've heard of the fifth, but never fully understood it in scenarios like this.
A jury in a criminal case is not supposed to hold any weight to someone taking a fifth amendment plea to not talk (since it's a provision really meant to protect the innocent) but with human nature that's unfortunately not the case.
However, since this is a civil case I don't know if the legal system has to be neutral in a Fifth amendment plea. If not that would help Waymo's case, especially since Waymo does have evidence that he downloaded these documents. So Him taking the fifth is just to make sure he doesn't do anything himself that will spawn a criminal conviction later.
(IANAL)
A person has the right to decline to answer questions if they believe that their answers could be used against them as evidence of a criminal act. This particular proceeding is civil rather than criminal so its outcome can't result in any criminal convictions. However, if he were later to be charged with a crime and tried in a criminal court any testimony he gave in this civil action could be used against him as evidence in the criminal trial.