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Fun fact: in California and Idaho, it is a capital crime to commit perjury that results in a wrongful execution. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/crimes-punishable

Fun fact: in California and Idaho, it is a capital crime to commit perjury that results in a wrongful execution. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/crimes-punishable-death-penalty https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/crimes-punishable-death-penalty

BuildTheRobots 8y ago
Is perjury actively lying or also withholding exonerating evidence? Rather than just if it results in execution, you'd think perjury resulting in jail time should mean the person lying should face the same jail term as the defendant.
boomboomsubban 8y ago
Perjury seems to be a separate crime from withholding evidence, somehow I doubt any prosecutor would ever be found guilty in this situation.
- clamprecht 8y ago
  One simple solution would be to have prosecutors swear, under penalty of perjury, that they are not withholding evidence.
  - _jal 8y ago
    That would be interesting; I wonder how courts would treat a voluntary sworn statement vs. absolute immunity. (A bit of an academic question; getting judges to do this would never happen in the US.)
- lb1lf 8y ago
  As far as I can tell from the relevant (I believe) 18USC §1621 [0], the failure to volunteer information is not perjury; it requires actively providing information you do not believe to be true. That would, in my non-lawyer eyes, make it incredibly hard to convict anyone of perjury as it seems you'd need to prove what was going on in the mind of the accused at the time, and good luck with that. [0] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1621 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1621
  - shakna 8y ago
    Would not the swearing in, where you promise to tell the whole truth be where you perjure yourself, if you withhold evidence?
    - boomboomsubban 8y ago
      Witnesses are under oath, not the prosecution.
      - shakna 8y ago
        Curious, in my country, before being allowed to speak in a criminal court, witnesses, defense and prosecution must all take the oath.
  - inetknght 8y ago
    Should the prosecutor not be held to higher standards?

BuildTheRobots 8y ago

Is perjury actively lying or also withholding exonerating evidence? Rather than just if it results in execution, you'd think perjury resulting in jail time should mean the person lying should face the same jail term as the defendant.

boomboomsubban 8y ago

Perjury seems to be a separate crime from withholding evidence, somehow I doubt any prosecutor would ever be found guilty in this situation.

clamprecht 8y ago
One simple solution would be to have prosecutors swear, under penalty of perjury, that they are not withholding evidence.
- _jal 8y ago
  That would be interesting; I wonder how courts would treat a voluntary sworn statement vs. absolute immunity. (A bit of an academic question; getting judges to do this would never happen in the US.)
lb1lf 8y ago
As far as I can tell from the relevant (I believe) 18USC §1621 [0], the failure to volunteer information is not perjury; it requires actively providing information you do not believe to be true. That would, in my non-lawyer eyes, make it incredibly hard to convict anyone of perjury as it seems you'd need to prove what was going on in the mind of the accused at the time, and good luck with that. [0] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1621 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1621
- shakna 8y ago
  Would not the swearing in, where you promise to tell the whole truth be where you perjure yourself, if you withhold evidence?
  - boomboomsubban 8y ago
    Witnesses are under oath, not the prosecution.
    - shakna 8y ago
      Curious, in my country, before being allowed to speak in a criminal court, witnesses, defense and prosecution must all take the oath.
- inetknght 8y ago
  Should the prosecutor not be held to higher standards?