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It's not necessarily an admission of guilt. If the investigation is about negligence, and trying to establish whether it was intentional or not, it is a very gr
by cm2187 7y ago
It's not necessarily an admission of guilt. If the investigation is about negligence, and trying to establish whether it was intentional or not, it is a very grey line and it is understandable that the pilot would be defensive.
- smachiz 7y agoSpecifically, asserting your 5th amendment rights is not an admission of guilt in a criminal case. In a civil case, it may be taken as an admission of guilt - partially because the rules are different. There are different standards for guilt (preponderance of evidence vs beyond a reasonable doubt) for the two. In a civil case, you do not have a presumption of innocence - and asserting a 5th amendment right can intimate guilt. According to the Supreme Court, asserting your 5th amendment rights explicitly cannot be used by a prosecutor as evidence of an admission of guilt - specifically because you are presumed innocent until the prosecutor proves otherwise, and you are under no obligation to prove yourself innocent.
- cm2187 7y agoBut I think the article used "admission of guilt" in the ethical sense rather than legal sense.