Delaware County, Indiana

Witness Tampering and Perjury

Witness tampering and perjury have existed since the very founding of our criminal justice system. However, it seems more pervasive with the advent of technology.  The internet, social media, and the ability of accused person to make endless phone calls from within a jail exacerbates the problem.

Witness intimidation and tampering can occur in any case, from simple misdemeanors to homicides. Just as anyone can be a witness to a crime, anyone can be the target of intimidation.  Intimidation has a variety of consequences from the silencing of an entire community, to the murder of a witness, to the recantation of truthful testimony.  Witness intimidation strikes at the very heart of the criminal justice system by denying critical evidence to police investigators, prosecutors, and ultimately juries.  As a result, it undermines the confidence of whole communities in the government’s ability to protect and represent them.

Witness tampering can take many forms including asking someone to disobey a subpoena, not testify, to lie, or testify in a particular matter.  It can also include threatening, intimidating, influencing, coercing, and even bribing witnesses.  Tampering can consist of communications directed to one specific witness related to a single crime or defendant, as well as community-wide intimidation characterized by a “code of silence” or “stop snitching” culture.  Perjury is an issue that goes hand-in-hand with tampering.  The crime of perjury is committed when a person comes into court, deviates from their prior statements and, for whatever reason, chooses to lie under oath. 

A fair trial is critical, not only to the accused person, but to the prosecution as well.  Important public policy protects the prosecution's right to fair trials and the pursuit of truth.  As the U.S. Supreme Court has said, “[i]t is to be remembered that impartiality requires not only freedom from any bias against the accused, but also from any prejudice against his prosecution.”  The prosecution’s right to a fair trial includes the right to present the facts to a jury without the case being contaminated by witness tampering and perjury.  Victims of crime have the right to seek justice though our criminal courts. Intimidation and perjury infringes upon that right.  Given the constitutional protections against double jeopardy, the state generally has only one chance to hold a criminal accountable for his/her actions.  That one chance cannot be allowed to be thwarted by tampering and perjury.  If witness tampering and perjury seep into a trial which results in a not guilty verdict, the state cannot retry that defendant.  The victim’s and society’s chance at justice will forever be extinguished.  Citizens are asked to trust and have faith in the system, and not to take the law into their own hands.  Witness tampering and perjury erodes the confidence of citizens in the system.  When that happens, the system collapses and vigilante justice and anarchy take over.

My office will not idly sit by and allow witness tampering and perjury to occur.  We will act swiftly and decisively, within the bounds of the law.  Though witness intimidation is an insidious problem, there are options throughout the investigation and prosecution of a case that can help to eliminate, or at least reduce the impact of, witness intimidation. A prosecutor can aggressively prosecute those people who tamper with witnesses.  Charges can include intimidation, obstruction of justice, harassment, assisting a criminal, perjury, and conspiracy to commit any of those offenses.  While no prosecutor wants to prosecute witnesses in a case because they withhold or give false testimony, we will do so if necessary to uphold the integrity of the criminal justice system in furtherance of the pursuit of justice.  A prosecutor may also convene a grand jury to compel truthful testimony from a witness, to investigate tampering and perjury, and indict those who commit these offenses.  Additionally, judges may hold individuals in contempt of court if it is found that they have tampered or attempted to tamper with a witness.  

Witness tampering is not a myth.  It happens.  And every time it does, it pulls one more stich out of the fabric that is our criminal justice system.  Victims, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers depend on a cooperative and courageous community spirit of support.  Intimidation, coercion, undue influence and false testimony threaten our system of public safety.  The rule of law is at stake.  Law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges across this country must be proactive and respond fairly and aggressively to witness tampering when and wherever it occurs.  Lives are literally on the line and the fate of our entire system of justice hangs in the balance.