# If lying to the the police is illegal, why the need for an oath in court? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 25, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030 "2017-03-25T20:30:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/1 "2017-03-25T20:30:44Z")
Presumably, it’s just as illegal to lie in court as it is to an officer of the law. Does the oath actually accomplish anything? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/2 "2017-03-25T20:40:36Z")
Police can lie to suspects, right? So cops can lie to you but you can’t lie to cops? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/3 "2017-03-25T20:42:40Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Presumably, it’s just as illegal to lie in court as it is to an officer of the law. Does the oath actually accomplish anything? A reminder to the individual that lying carries serious consequences - for the parties to the court action, and for them. Read a standard (nonreligious) affirmation statement and it’s clearer than the traditional sweartaGod one. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/4 "2017-03-25T21:44:42Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Police can lie to suspects, right? So cops can lie to you but you can’t lie to cops? IANAL but I’m pretty sure that the answer is yes. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/5 "2017-03-25T21:46:58Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > IANAL but I’m pretty sure that the answer is yes. Me too. I probably shouldn’t have posed that as a question so much as an observation. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/6 "2017-03-25T23:16:51Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Presumably, it’s just as illegal to lie in court as it is to an officer of the law. Does the oath actually accomplish anything? It _is_ just as illegal and it does accomplish things. It gives teeth to perjury charges as well as charges of juror misconduct. Without an oath administered, there is no way to prove the person giving false testimony was aware that to lie on the stand was to commit a crime. Remember too that not all trials are criminal trials. Oaths are administered to witnesses in every kind of hearing and/or trial. Oaths are also administered to prospective jurors, regular jurors who then become sworn jurors, language interpreters, court reporters in rare instances and no doubt some I’m forgetting. Courts are full of oaths and to knowingly violate any one of them carries a punishment… assuming you are caught. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/7 "2017-03-25T23:36:21Z")
So they can punish you if you lie, or punish somebody else if you tell the truth. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/8 "2017-03-25T23:38:03Z")
Is it always illegal to lie to the police? People who have been given a Miranda warning, where they have the choice not to answer at all can get in trouble for lying, but I don’t know that in every circumstance it’s illegal to lie. I read about a situation once where the police once asked a crowd if anyone had an epi-pen, and someone produced one. I don’t remember the whole story, but I assume someone was going into anaphylaxis, and the police wanted to commandeer the epi-pen to administer aid to the person who wasn’t carrying one. If someone didn’t want to give up their pen, and had kept their mouth shut, or even said “No,” if asked directly, I don’t think that is a crime. You’re not under arrest, and you’re not even a witness who could be construed as interfering with an investigation. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/9 "2017-03-26T00:08:56Z")
The charges for lying to police are really results based… “Causing an investigation due to false statements” and so on The court is not results based, the mere fact of purposefully lying is enough. ---
**Author:** ![K2500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f6c823/32.png) [@K2500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K2500)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/10 "2017-03-26T00:17:08Z")
Lying to the police, like everything else in law likely depends on what you lie about, under what circumstances, and why you lied. Id like to see them file charges for misrepresenting my favorite color, or much of anything at all if we happen to be having a “friendly” conversation. You have the added benefit that you don’t have to say anything at all, at least not here in the US. Cecil may have done a piece on what the cops can/can’t lie about. I’ll have to look for that one though. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/11 "2017-03-31T02:54:01Z")
Lying to the police is not a crime automatically. It might be part of a series of actions that allows them to prove something like obstruction of justice, and certainly the police are going to do some serious investigating if they’re fairly sure you lied to them, but I don’t think they can book you specifically for lying to them. At least that’s the way I understand it here, though I am not a lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/12 "2017-03-31T04:33:47Z")
> [@K2500](#): > > Lying to the police, like everything else in law likely depends on what you lie about, under what circumstances, and why you lied. Id like to see them file charges for misrepresenting my favorite color, or much of anything at all if we happen to be having a “friendly” conversation. So there is a difference. If you lied, after taking the oath, on the witness stand in court about your favorite color, you could in theory be jailed for perjury. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/13 "2017-03-31T04:41:34Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Presumably, it’s just as illegal to lie in court as it is to an officer of the law. Does the oath actually accomplish anything? Lying to [federal agents is a crime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Making_false_statements), lying to regular police alone is not. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/14 "2017-03-31T05:06:32Z")
The main thing that can get you into legal trouble is providing a false name if arrested or questioned. You aren’t going to get hauled away if the officer asks you if you knew how fast you were going and you claim you stopped paying attention even though you were actually intentionally speeding. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/15 "2017-03-31T05:23:58Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Police can lie to suspects, right? So cops can lie to you but you can’t lie to cops? So what do you say if a policewoman asks you if her uniform makes her ass look fat? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/16 "2017-03-31T05:31:18Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > So what do you say if a policewoman asks you if her uniform makes her ass look fat? That was the main reason the 5th amendment was ratified! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/17 "2017-03-31T15:59:43Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > So what do you say if a policewoman asks you if her uniform makes her ass look fat? “I like big butts, and I cannot lie.” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/18 "2017-03-31T16:08:14Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > So there is a difference. If you lied, after taking the oath, on the witness stand in court about your favorite color, you could in theory be jailed for perjury. Maybe so, for such is OP. But far more likely, if the lawyer can make it seem relevant, four priests and Boy Scout leaders could testify to his written statement ordering socks “Man, I LOVE blue!,” and the lawyer could hammer to the judge/jury that your entire testimony cannot be trusted. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/19 "2017-03-31T16:49:14Z")
I’m not a lawyer, but I believe that to be charged with perjury the lie has to be material to the case. So if you’re under oath and say that your favorite color is blue but it’s actually yellow, you cannot be charged with perjury unless your favorite color is material. So if you’re undergoing trial for tax evasion, and you’re asked if you slept with that woman, and you say no, that isn’t perjury unless the prosecutor can show that your lie was relevant to the case. I don’t think merely showing the jury that you’re an untrustworthy person in general rises to that level. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030/20 "2017-03-31T17:26:34Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > So they can punish you if you lie, or punish somebody else if you tell the truth. Or punish no one if you say: “I want to speak to my attorney”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-lying-to-the-the-police-is-illegal-why-the-need-for-an-oath-in-court/783030.md?page=2)