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Comment by lurker456 | Hacker News Reader

Couldn't google offer him immunity of sorts in return for spilling the beans on Uber ? They dont need to claw back the money, it is pocket change to them. Restricting Uber from entering that market (on potentially near equal footing) is far more valuable.

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I don't think Google can offer immunity since any criminal charges would be brought by the state.

Google could offer not to bring a civil suit against him, but it sounds like criminal charges are on the table and he's trying to avoid anything that might help that investigation.

In spite of what you see on TV, it's not up to a victim to decide whether or not to press criminal charges in the end. That's up to the attorney general usually.

Victims can choose not to cooperate with an investigation, which makes it much harder (and in some cases impossible) for a prosecution to proceed.

If all the relevant material is "spilled" in a civil trial that the victim is pursuing against someone else, the victim's cooperation in the criminal case is less likely to be needed.

Though police do often drop criminal charges if the victim is uncooperative.

Here's a recent example: a friend of mine was raped and strangled to death last month. They caught her alleged murderer last week. When the media got a hold of it, they found out that he had been accused of rape and attempted strangulation five years ago, but police decided not to press charges because the victim wanted to let it drop.

So yeah, it happens; it's just a spectacularly bad idea for the police to do it. If they hadn't declined to file charges, my friend and another murder victim would probably still be alive today.

Source: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2017/05/26/man-killed-...

I'm very sorry about your friend. That is an absolute tragedy.

Correct. See: Aaron Swartz (rest in peace)

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