Legal Research

Prosecutors Not Afraid To Push Controversial Perjury Cases

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: Crime and Justice News, February 19, 2008.

"It is not clear whether pitcher Roger Clemens will be prosecuted over his statements on steroids, but federal authorities don't like being lied to, says the Associated Press. Prosecutors have a variety of options to punish people who stretch the truth and they're not afraid to use them. Just ask Martha Stewart, Marion Jones, Barry Bonds and 'Scooter' Libby. 'Whether it's a grand jury investigation or a congressional inquiry, it has to have teeth or it becomes meaningless,' said ex-prosecutor Zachary Fardon."

"Clemens and former trainer Brian McNamee appeared last week before a congressional committee, but neither man budged from his story in the increasingly ugly war of words. Said Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA): 'Both can't be telling the truth.' 'We tend to think that when you raise your right hand and swear to tell the truth, it means something,' said Loyola of Chicago law Prof. Spencer Waller. 'We're tough on people who screw with the symbolism.' As rare as perjury cases are, Jones will spend six months behind bars, while Bonds could face 30 years in prison. Had President Bush not commuted his sentence, Libby was looking at 2 1/2 years in prison."

Associated Press/Yahoo!Sports

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on February 19, 2008 (boomark / email).