A report yesterday on the police witnesses said that Zimmerman came off as very credible, in part because he was very cooperative with police.
I don’t like these new rulings on the fifth amendment. Prior to Lois Lerner, I had no idea that you could inadvertently waive a fifth amendment right simply by answering a related question.
Now I’m confused.
If I ever need to, I want to be able to cooperate with police without fear of them asking a laundry list of unrelated questions.
Suppose they stop me and ask me if I was speeding and I say no. And then they ask if I have ever speeded, have I waived my right to not answer by answering the first question?
This is not the way I remember the watergate hearings working. They got to specific questions and the person would claim the fifth. Then they would ask another question and they’d answer. Of course, Most questions they just couldn’t recall. Someone should look into what causes memory lapses in D.C.
And today the judge ordered that comment stricken and informed the jury to forget that they heard it. and Zimmerman is still on trial despite his polite candor.