# Perjury... in criminal cases... in civil cases? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perjury-in-criminal-cases-in-civil-cases/706798 "2014-12-09T22:19:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cedman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cedman)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perjury-in-criminal-cases-in-civil-cases/706798/1 "2014-12-09T22:19:47Z")
We’ve all seen it on tv and AFAIK is the same in real life. Lie under oath in a criminal case and you’ve committed a crime. A pretty serious crime. Is the law the same in a civil case? I wouldn’t think it would be as serious as in a criminal case but the damage done could be just as bad. What say you legal Dopers? Perjury in a civil case bad news? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perjury-in-criminal-cases-in-civil-cases/706798/2 "2014-12-09T22:33:45Z")
Same crime. Just as serious. Almost never prosecuted, even when pretty obvious. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perjury-in-criminal-cases-in-civil-cases/706798/3 "2014-12-09T22:34:05Z")
I recently caught a police officer in a lie on the stand in a court trial where he testified that he remembered my client’s eyes were dilated and wrote that in a police report. The ambulance report made three readings at the same time, all non-dilated. The judge (it was a court trial) did nothing about it. So he perjured himself and submitted a false police report to discredit my client. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perjury-in-criminal-cases-in-civil-cases/706798/4 "2014-12-09T22:36:31Z")
> [@cedman](#): > > What say you legal Dopers? Perjury in a civil case bad news? Sure. Remember perjury is a crime committed against the court. Doesn’t matter if it is a civil or criminal trial. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perjury-in-criminal-cases-in-civil-cases/706798/5 "2014-12-09T23:55:35Z")
While perjury is a serious offense, it seems like it would be difficult to prove. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perjury-in-criminal-cases-in-civil-cases/706798/6 "2014-12-10T18:28:47Z")
> [@cedman](#): > > We’ve all seen it on tv and AFAIK is the same in real life. Lie under oath in a criminal case and you’ve committed a crime. A pretty serious crime. > > Is the law the same in a civil case? I wouldn’t think it would be as serious as in a criminal case but the damage done could be just as bad. > > What say you legal Dopers? Perjury in a civil case bad news? Let’s take Ohio for instance, in part; 2921.11 Perjury. (A) No person, in any official proceeding, shall knowingly make a false statement under oath or affirmation, or knowingly swear or affirm the truth of a false statement previously made, when either statement is material. Official proceeding includes Civil Court. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perjury-in-criminal-cases-in-civil-cases/706798/7 "2014-12-10T21:21:22Z")
Is lying in testimony before a Grand Jury also subject to perjury charges? I’m thinking of the Ferguson, MO case, where some witnesses testified that policeman Wilson stood over Brown and fired several shots into his back – all 3 autopsies, the physical evidence, etc. prove this to be completely false. Could these witnesses be charged with perjury? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perjury-in-criminal-cases-in-civil-cases/706798/8 "2014-12-10T21:22:59Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Is lying in testimony before a Grand Jury also subject to perjury charges? > > I’m thinking of the Ferguson, MO case, where some witnesses testified that policeman Wilson stood over Brown and fired several shots into his back – all 3 autopsies, the physical evidence, etc. prove this to be completely false. Could these witnesses be charged with perjury? yes, if the witness is under oath. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perjury-in-criminal-cases-in-civil-cases/706798/9 "2014-12-11T01:47:39Z")
They can be charged, but they won’t be convicted simply because their evidence was _wrong_; it has to have been subjectively _dishonest_. Eyewitness testimony is not very reliable. It’s extremely common for honest eyewitnesses to have vivid memories of things which simply did not happen. That’s not enough to secure a perjury conviction. Usually to convict someone of perjury you will need a confession, or evidence that he knew his testimony to be false, e.g. he gave a different, true version of events to to someone else on another occasion.