Is taking the 5th,another form of admission of guilt?

Question

Just curious what your thoughts/opinion on this Question

Answer 1

Well look at it this way no judge can convict you just because you plead the fifth amendment so legally no it does not mean that you are guilty. However put yourself in a juror's place. you have been on jury duty maybe a couple of hiours or maybe a couple of days you are generally not getting paid well for being on jury duty and most of the time it is very boring. So now a lawyer is asking you questions and you plead the fifth. well a juror is just a normal civillian so they are going to assume that the reason you do not want to answer the question is because you are guilty otherwise you would tell him or her everything they wanted to know. sothey are generally going to assume you are guilty.  

Answer 2

It is not.  

The easy answer is that it isn't because the Supreme Court says it isn't.

The better answer is because of the way criminal statutes work.  You have two parts to most crimes, a criminal act, and a criminal state of mind.   Just because the police want to know if you drove off in a car you did not own, and you refuse to answer the question, doesn't make you guilty of GTA if they can prove the answer is "yes".  You'd also have to have the requisite mental state for it to be theft.  

Of course, another reason is because they may be investigating one crime, and you refuse to answer because it would lead them to a different crime.  You're under no obligation to help them figure out what you did.  

Answer 3

It always seems to me that it is an admission of guilt in a way.

Answer 4

Just put yourself in the place of a juror.  You are sitting there for a couple of hours or days during a trial where someone could goto jail and they person doesn't even want to tell there side of the  story ??????

Answer 5

i know this is about the mary-kate and heath ledger case of his death cause i just read about tht a minute ago.

i think its not an admission of guilt, really.

Answer 6

Legally, no.

But in reality, invoking your right to not incriminate yourself means you've done something illegal, which means you're guilty of something.