Miles Ehrlich, one of the lawyers representing Mr. Levandowski, said the Uber executive was asserting his Fifth Amendment rights to protect against “compelled disclosure
that would identify the existence, location or possession of any responsive documents.” He also said that Mr. Levandowski’s decision to invoke the Fifth Amendment may change as they examine the case.
Uber Executive Invokes Fifth Amendment, Seeking to Avoid Potential Charges -
By DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI and MIKE ISAACMARCH 30, 2017
SAN FRANCISCO — An Uber executive accused of stealing driverless car technology from his former employers
at Google is exercising his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination, according to his lawyers.
In the transcript of a private hearing before Judge William Alsup in United States District Court in San Francisco, Mr. Levandowski’s lawyers
said he was invoking his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination in not turning over documents that may pertain to the case.
Without arguing about whether or not Mr. Levandowski stole documents, Uber’s lawyer said the company intended to prove
that its driverless car technology was not stolen from Waymo.
The lawyers for Anthony Levandowski, the former head of Google’s self-driving car project who is now leading a similar effort at Uber, said he was broadly asserting his Fifth Amendment rights
because there was “potential for criminal action” in the case, according to court transcripts obtained on Thursday.