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Speak Up! - View Question #337 |
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Question: If a defendant testifies that he didn't commit a crime and he is found guilty, has he committed perjury?
Answer: In order to prove that the defendant committed perjury, the prosecutor would have to file new changes and then prove the perjury beyond a reasonable doubt in a new trial.
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On 03/13/04
Mike from AZ said:
I'm certainly not familiar with the law, but I believe charging someone with perjury for testifying in their defense and saying they are not guilty would not withstand scrutiny. The reason being is this would create a discouragement from someone testifying on their own behalf. However, I would imagine that anything beyond denial would be considered perjury such as saying you were at home when you were actually near the scene of a crime when the act occured, for example.
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On 05/02/03
paul from CO said:
You may have noticed on t.v. that in major cases (and minor ones) lawyers most often discourage their client from testifying, one reason for this is to keep them from commiting perjury on the witness stand.
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On 05/15/02
Jenny from MI said:
what about the 5th ammendment right not to self incriminate in court?
Editor's Note:
Perjury is different from "taking the 5th" To say something in court that you know is untrue is perjury. On the other hand, "taking the 5th" means that you refuse to answer questions that might force you to incriminate yourself. You cannot commit perjury by staying silent under the 5th amendment.
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On 02/03/02
Sasha from GA said:
So then, what's the point of the whole "plea" process? It seems like
a logical extension that a person who has committed a crime would
plea "not guilty" in many cases - the burden of proof is then on the
prosecution to prove otherwise. Why is a not guilty plea possible
perjury? That doesn't make sense.
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