Barbara Shanklin walks out of ethics hearing

What do expect? Cops also believe a person refusing to allow a search means you have something to hide.

She can invoke the 5th all day, obviously, since that's what she's doing. The down side, since this is an administrative hearing and not a criminal trial, is that all the 'jury' hears is what Earhart says. The allegations are presented with no explanation from Shanklin, because she chooses not to respond.

So, while she's perfectly within her rights to not only not answer, but to walk out on the proceedings - the 'jury' will probably say "I might have voted to clear her if she offered us some lame excuse. But, she didn't."

Then, they'll remove her from the council.

And unless she's been invoking the 5th because she's anticipating some criminal charges, it's all over.

So - exercising rights in an administrative hearing comes with consequences. Just like if you refuse to truthfully answer a question in an internal affairs investigation, you can be fired. [please hold all Bob White favoritism comments until the end of the program - thank you]