Perjury
Encyclopedia : P : PE : PER : Perjury
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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 #redirect ). Federal tax law provides criminal penalties of up to three years in prison for violation of the tax return perjury statute. See #redirect .
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.
- Dr. Cecil Jacobson, American fertility doctor.
Famous persons accused of perjury
Famous individuals who have been accused of perjury include:- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, impeached by the House of Representatives on grounds of perjury and obstruction of justice on December 19, 1998. The perjury charge was later rejected by the Senate, with 55 not-guilty votes and 45 guilty votes preventing a conviction. However later, on April 12, 1999, Clinton was cited 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.[link]
- Lewis Libby, former advisor to Dick Chaney and a part of George W. Bush administration.
- Rafael Palmeiro, faced perjury charges (but was never charged) for possible false testimony in front of Congress regarding steroid use in professional baseball.
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