The Short Answer: Don’t Do It!
It is easy to see the news story of the day, reality TV, or talk with someone about their court experience and think lying is acceptable and a sign of the times. Good or okay? No. It is not, and every attorney and jurist will tell you the integrity of the system is based on honest answers that are made under the penalty of perjury. It is the ugly side of law that people will lie to try to obtain a legal advantage.
In fact, perjury means if you lie in court and it is discovered, you may be charged as a criminal act. That may be unlikely, but there are a host of other sanctions.
Today, an Indiana federal trial court made that very point in Secrease J.R. v. the Western & Southern Life Insurance Co. A lawsuit is often the subject of making or breaking fame or fortune and for Mr. Secrease that occurred today. He combined employment contracts with different provisions. Ultimately, in this age and sex discrimination case, this was discovered.
The federal district court’s findings that Secrease had falsified evidence in bad faith and lied about it were the basis and the trial court dismissed his case with prejudice. This means he cannot bring it again. His claims, even if they had merit, were punished by dismissal of his case once and forever as punishment. Thus, for the legal system to work for you and our country, you should be honest in every court proceeding you are in. Our system depends on it. So does your freedom.
This blog post was written by attorneys at Dixon & Moseley, P.C. who practice in Indianapolis, and handle cases across Indiana. This blog is for general educational information only. It is not intended to provide specific legal advice or be a solicitation for services.