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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 18 U.S.C. § 1621. See also 28 U.S.C. § 1746.
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 26 U.S.C. § 6065). Federal tax law provides criminal penalties of up to three years in prison for violation of the tax return perjury statute. See 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1).
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 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.
- Martha Stewart, television and magazine personality
- Dr. Cecil Jacobson, American fertility doctor.
- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton was cited on April 12, 1999 by federal district judge Susan Webber Wright for contempt of court for giving statements that were "intentionally false" under oath in his January 28, 1998 deposition in the Paula Jones lawsuit. As a consequence of this, Clinton was fined $90,000 and the matter was referred to the Arkansas Supreme Court and, ultimately, to the U.S. Supreme Court. Later, in January, 2001, Clinton agreed to surrender his law license and to give up his bar membership allowing him to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court.[1]
Famous persons accused of perjury
Famous individuals who have been accused of perjury include:
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