Perjury charges are brought against those who knowingly make false statements under oath, which materially affect a case. The act is criminal and can result in hefty fines and prison time. Proving perjury can be difficult, and subornation of perjury and bribery of perjury are also crimes.
Perjury charges are charges brought against a person for knowingly making false statements after taking an oath to tell the truth. Typically, such allegations are made in connection with a civil or criminal proceeding in which the false statements materially affected the investigation or case at hand. The act of perjury is criminal in nature and is generally considered a felony. If the perjury charge is proven, the defendant can face hefty fines. The defendant can also be sentenced to severe prison terms, in some cases up to 15 years or more.
In order to prove perjury charges, the prosecution usually has to prove that the defendant gave a false statement under oath. Furthermore, the prosecution must also prove that the defendant knew the statement was false. Typically, the defendant must have lied about a matter relevant to the case. If a witness in a murder case had lied about her birth date, for example, perjury would not have been committed because the birth date would have nothing to do with the murder. On the other hand, if the witness lied about finding the murder weapon, perjury may have been committed.
While the elements of the perjury charges seem simple, they can be difficult to prove. Defense attorneys may, for example, argue that the prosecutor’s questions were not formulated clearly, which had an impact on the defendant’s response. Additionally, a defendant may claim that he misspoke based on faulty memory rather than with the intention of deliberately lying to the court. Statements that are simply misleading or ambiguous usually do not reach the level of perjury. Instead, the law requires that the statement be completely false.
Subornation of perjury, which is also a crime, occurs when a person convinces another person to lie while under oath. It can take place both in a criminal case and in a civil case. For example, if an attorney lies during a closing statement in court, the attorney may be charged with suborning perjury. An attorney may also be found guilty of the suborning of perjury if the attorney permits or persuades a witness to lie under oath. Attorneys found guilty of suborning perjury may be disciplined or disbarred. In some cases, they could even face jail time.
Other individuals may also be convicted of the bribery of perjury. For example, suppose a defendant in a theft case forces a witness to lie in the dock by stating that the defendant was with the witness in another city at the time of the theft. The defendant can be charged with the bribery of perjury for encouraging the witness to make false statements in court. In such a scenario, perjury charges can also be brought against the witness for lying under oath.
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