Perjury
Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury is a crime because the witness has sworn to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court, witness testimony must be relied on as being truthful. Perjury is considered a very serious crime as it could be used to usurp the power of the courts, resulting in miscarriages of justice. In the United States, for example, the general perjury statute under Federal law provides for a prison sentence of up to five years, and is found at . See also .
The rules for perjury also apply to witnesses who have affirmed they are telling the truth. Affirmation is used by a witness who is unable to swear to tell the truth. For example, in the United Kingdom a witness may swear on the Bible or other holy book. If a witness has no religion, or does not wish to swear on a holy book, the witness may make an affirmation he or she is telling the truth instead.
The rules for perjury also apply when a person has made a statement under penalty of perjury, even if the person has not been sworn or affirmed as a witness before an appropriate official. An example of this is the United States' income tax return, which, by law, must be signed as true and correct under penalty of perjury (see ). Federal tax law provides criminal penalties of up to three years in prison for violation of the tax return perjury statute. See .
Statements of interpretation of fact are not perjury because people often make inaccurate statements unwittingly and not deliberately. Individuals may have honest but mistaken beliefs about certain facts or their recollection may be inaccurate. Like most other crimes in the common law system, to be convicted of perjury you have to have had the intention (the mens rea) to commit the act, and to have actually committed the act (the actus reus).
In some countries such as France, suspects cannot be heard under oath and thus do not commit perjury, whatever they say during their trial.
Famous persons who have been convicted of perjury
Famous persons who have been accused and convicted of perjury include:
- Jonathan Aitken, British politician, who was a member of John Major's cabinet, sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for perjury
- Jeffrey Archer, British novelist and politician, sentenced to 4 years imprisonment for perjury
- Alger Hiss, alleged Soviet spy who worked for the United States Department of State, sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for perjury and served 44 months.
- Lil' Kim, American Rapper.
- Dr. Cecil Jacobson, American fertility doctor.
- Chris Webber, NBA Rookie of the Year (1994), All-Star and former University of Michigan Wolverine, who admitted he received gifts and cash from a U of M booster.
Famous persons accused of perjury
Famous individuals who have been accused of perjury include:
- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton was accused of perjury—and as a result was fined for contempt of court, agreed to be disbarred, and was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 19, 1998. The Senate rejected the perjury with 55 not-guilty votes and 45 guilty votes. No criminal charges were ever brought.[1][2]
- Former Houston Police Chief C.O. Bradford - was indicted by Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal for alleged swearing at fellow Houston Police officers; perjury charge was dismissed due to the lack of evidence and/or fabricated charges.
- Lewis Libby, former advisor to Dick Cheney and a part of George W. Bush administration.
- Rafael Palmeiro faced perjury charges (but was never charged) for possible false testimony in front of Congress regarding steroid use in professional baseball.
- Barry Bonds is currently under investigation by a federal grand jury for allegedly perjuring himself in testimony before a grand jury in 2003 as part of the BALCO steroid scandal, in which he denied using any performance-enhancing drugs.
Perjury in popular culture
In crime dramas, whether in movies, novels, stories or on television, characters protraying suspects or witnesses are sometimes told that lying during interrogation incurs a threat of perjury charges. In most cases, the character is not under oath at this point and thus not at risk of perjury. This either represents intimidation by the questioner (who assumes the subject does not know the distinction) or ignorance on the part of the writer.
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