I am not a lawyer, but basically it means he is innocent until proven otherwise and he has the right to not testify in a way that might incriminate himself and he is exercising it.
There is the sort of popular view that if you do this, it must mean you are guilty and by testifying you would actually be proven so. The problem with that is that you might actually be innocent but not be able to give evidence in a way that does not make you look guilty.
Any lawyers here willing to elaborate on how to better view this from a social point of view?
Not a lawyer. Levandowski is trying to avoid turning over (some) documents in the discovery process of the civil lawsuit Waymo is filing against Uber. They are doing this by claiming it could incriminate him and open him up to the possibility of criminal charges.
Will this actually work? Maybe. The fifth amendment is more complex than it might at first seem. One thing that's for sure is that if he is found to be withholding any documents that are relevant to the civil suit, but couldn't realistically incriminate him, this could backfire spectacularly. Hence the statement from his lawyers:
> One of Mr. Levandowski’s lawyers said the Uber executive’s position on invoking the Fifth Amendment may change as they examine the case.
There is the sort of popular view that if you do this, it must mean you are guilty and by testifying you would actually be proven so. The problem with that is that you might actually be innocent but not be able to give evidence in a way that does not make you look guilty.
Any lawyers here willing to elaborate on how to better view this from a social point of view?