Subornation of perjury

The criminal offense of procuring another to commit perjury, which is the crime of lying, in a material matter, while under oath.

It is a criminal offense to induce someone to commit perjury. In a majority of states, the offense is defined by statute.

Under federal criminal law (18 U.S.C.A. § 1622), five elements must be proved to convict a person of subornation of perjury. It first must be shown that the defendant made an agreement with a person to testify falsely. There must be proof that perjury has in fact been committed and that the statements of the perjurer were material. The prosecutor must also provide evidence that the perjurer made such statements willfully with knowledge of their falsity. Finally, there must be proof that the procurer had knowledge that the perjurer's statements were false.

When there is a criminal conspiracy to suborn perjury, the conspirators may be prosecuted whether or not perjury has been committed. It is also quite common to join both subornation of perjury and obstruction of justice counts in a single indictment when they arise from the same activity.

The Federal Sentencing Guidelines recognize two types of circumstances that enhance the criminal sentence for subornation of perjury. An offense causing or threatening to cause physical injury to a person, or property damage, in order to suborn perjury is one circumstance. The other is when subornation of perjury resulted in substantial interference with the administration of justice, which includes a premature or improper termination of a felony investigation, an indictment, a verdict, or any judicial determination based on perjury, false testimony, or other false evidence, or the unnecessary expenditure of substantial government or court resources.

Under 18 U.S.C.A. § 1622, a person convicted of subornation of perjury may be fined $2,000 and sentenced to up to five years in prison.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: (law) inducing someone to make a false oath as part of a judicial proceeding

Subornation of perjury is a legal term describing the crime of persuading another to commit perjury.^[1]

It may be applied to an attorney who presents testimony (or an affidavit) the attorney knows is materially false to a judge or jury as if it were factual. Generally, the knowledge that the testimony is materially false must rise above mere suspicion to what a reasonable attorney would have believed in the circumstances. For example, the attorney cannot be wilfully blind to the fact that their witness is giving false testimony. An attorney who actively encourages a witness to give false testimony is clearly guilty of suborning perjury. It can occur in either a civil or criminal case.

Subornation of perjury is a crime. It is also an offense for which an attorney can be disciplined, disbarred or jailed. Subornation is the circumstance where an attorney gets, or allows, another party to lie. If an attorney makes a false representation in court, that is also a crime and he could be subject to similar punishment as subornation.

Under American federal criminal law, "Whoever procures another to commit any perjury is guilty of subornation of perjury, and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both". Subornation of perjury occurs when anyone--not just a lawyer--encourages a witness to perjure her/himself. Violators can face a maximum of five years in prison.^[2] That law has analogous provisions in every state of the union.

The line between subornation of perjury and simply helping witnesses recall what actually occurred is a fine one. The best theatrical example of "wood shedding" (also known as "horse shedding"^[3] - for the locale of the collaboration - or "sand papering")^[4] is in the book and movie Anatomy of a Murder, which concerns an actual case in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and written under the pen-name of Robert Traver, who was Justice John D. Voelker of the Michigan Supreme Court. The story graphically demonstrates the ethical and legal problem.

See also

• Jury tampering

References

1. ^ Garner, Bryan A., Ed., Black's Law Dictionary (7th Ed) (West Group, St. Paul Minnesota, 1999), p. 1440.
2. ^ 18 U.S.C. § 1622
3. ^ Horse-shedding at "Quote it completely"
4. ^ See Bryan A. Garner, Black's Law Dictionary (7th Ed.) (West Group, St. Paul Minnesota, 1999), pp. 742, 1342 and 1598.

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