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baseballguy2001 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 11, 2019 10:35 pm Mr. Cotton, Sir, don't large departments compel their employees to answer questions, especially if they have cases open, or those employees could be terminated? And if terminated, that could mean a loss of retirement benefits? I didn't mean to imply they don't enjoy a 5th amendment right, just that this is an attempt, IMHO, to escape and still get paid.

An agency's "shooting team" can demand answers to questions, but the officer cannot be compelled to answer. It may cost the officer his/her job, but they don't have to answer a question that can be used against them in court. I suspect the officer in question is trying to preserve his retirement/pension in case he is convicted of a felony. Plus, he couldn't make cases any longer as he would be so easy to impeach in trial.

Chas.

baseballguy2001 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2019 5:57 pm I'm afraid you guys are missing the point ... once he retires, any questions he's asked, he can refuse to answer via his 5th amendment right. If he's still a police officer, he must answer all the questions. This is an attempt to stay out of prison but also to keep whatever pension he can get. Goines probably can't risk this sort of strategy since he is staring at a few more surgeries.

Police officers enjoy Fifth Amendment privileges as do all Americans.

Chas.

philip964 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2019 10:47 am

EastTexasRancher wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2019 7:05 am I'm at a point where I even wonder if the small amounts of pot and coke that were "found" were even really there to begin with?

I agree.

The wife lunging for the fallen officer's weapon, always sounded made up from the first time I read it.

I find that very hard to believe. The natural response for the vast majority of untrained, inexperienced people is to freeze, not reach for a battlefield pick-up.

Chas.

I too am upset about what happened, but the Forum is not going to be an outlet for videos authored by persons unknown. They may be 100% accurate, or 100% false and that's the problem, we don't know.

Chas.