The crime of perjury has made national news. But what exactly does it mean to commit perjury.
Whether you are a political junkie or someone who tries to stay out of the fray, it is hard to avoid the recent news out of Washington. With nonstop Congressional hearings and endless political commentary, it can be difficult to escape these issues. Some of the questions that have arisen in recent weeks involve legal issues. While we will leave obstruction of justice and impeachment to the experts, the matter of perjury has come up repeatedly in recent months.
While many people believe that they know what perjury means — lying — the truth is that it is slightly more complex than that. Under California law, perjury isn’t simply lying. In order to be convicted of perjury, you have give false information while under oath. That means that you have to have sworn or affirmed to tell the truth in some sort of official proceeding or in an official form, and then lying in that proceeding or in that form. That is different than just lying, because it requires you to be under oath. As a seasoned Riverside criminal defense lawyer will tell you, this distinction is important, because it may protect you from perjury charges if you are not actually under oath when you have given false information.
Under California law, perjury is a felony — the most serious of criminal charges. That means that you could be sentenced to up to four years in California state prison. That makes it all the more important that you hire an aggressive Riverside criminal defense lawyer to defend you against perjury charges if you have been charged with this crime.
To prove that you committed the crime of perjury, a prosecutor must prove four separate elements: (1) that you made a deliberate or willful statement; (2) knowing that the statement was false; (3) that you were under oath to tell the truth at the time that you made the statement; and (4) that the statement was or was related to a material fact.
There are any number of ways that you could be charged with perjury under California law. It could happen in the way that most people think about perjury: lying under oath while testifying at trial. But it could also occur in any number of other ways. For example, you could intentionally provide false information on your driver’s license application or tax form, and then sign above the phrase that states something to the effect of “I declare under penalty of perjury that the above information is true and correct.” You could also be charged with perjury if you sign an affidavit that you know to be false, or lie during a deposition.
A skilled Riverside criminal defense lawyer could mount many different defenses to perjury charges. For example, your attorney could argue that you did not know that your statement was false at the time that you made it, or that you did not intend to make a false statement (for example, if you misunderstood an instruction on a form). An experienced attorney will know how to put together the best possible factual and legal defenses to these charges.
If you have been charged with perjury — regardless of whether you are testifying before Congress or are just a regular American going about your daily life — you will need the highest quality legal representation to help protect your legal rights. Contact the Chambers Law Firm today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com to schedule a free initial appointment and learn more about how we can help you.
