Why aren't people who plead innocent in court but are then found to be guilty charged with perjury?

Question

Did they lie in court or not?

Answer 1

The plea is not under oath. And one may plead not guilty as a matter of law as much as of fact.

If one voluntarily takes the stand and testifies, s/he may indeed be prosecuted for perjury notwithstanding a not guilty finding.

But it's often difficult to prove the case. Since double jeopardy ("ne bis in idem") protection does not generally exist as between different sovereigns (the federal government, a state or indian tribal court, or a foreign country's court) such a prosecution might be by a different sovereign, and incude different charges: civil rights violations instead of murder, for example.

Answer 2

Innocent until PROVEN guilty comes to mind! If they lie in court then they are guilty of perjury, but lying and entire truth telling aren't always the same thing!
If they are questioned then they must tell the truth with regard to that question but if they are not asked a question then they don't have to disclose what the answer would have been.
We also all know that there are quite a few people out there who have been found guilty only to have proven their innocence at a later date. Can you then state that the jury came to a collectively incorrect conclusion, an untruth? A lie is an untruth - does that make the entire court guilty of perjury?

Answer 3

We have this amazing concept, you are PRESUMED INNOCENT until found guilty by a Court of law. You never plead, nor are you found, innocent. You plead NOT GUILTY. It wouldn't be perjury because people who were not guilty of the crime HAVE been convicted and later exonerated. What if you plead not guilty and are FOUND Not Guilty? Would we put the State on trial for perjury since they said you are guilty? Guilty pleas are "taken more seriously" because you are giving up your right to the trial IF, and only if, the Judge accepts that plea. Keep in mind that Judges can, and have, denied guilty pleas.

Answer 4

If a person pleads not guilty and is found guilty, they receive a harsher punishment that had they pleaded guilty. As a general rule, a 50% increase in sentence for a not guilty plea.

You could argue that this extra is the punishment for the perjury!

Answer 5

Each crime has "elements" that have to be proven. One of the elements has to do with the Intent, the mental state of the Defendant. If a Prosecutor charges someone with a crime that requires that the Defendant deliberately acted with the intent to cause the result, the Defendant may plead Not Guilty because he thinks they can't prove the Intent.

That's often the hard part to prove, and is why investigators look so hard for motive. If you know about the million dollar life insurance policy, you know why the person killed her husband, and you have a strong case for the intent you need.

Answer 6

IT IS STRANGE YOU ASKED THAT QUESTION, when a person pleads not guilty in a court of law i these united states , if he is found guilt which is 98.8 percent of the time he gets extra time so he is punished wheather he lied or not, our courts are a farce and there is no justice in our courts, when Gary Powers was shot down in a spy plane over Russia and was being tried as a spy in Russia the U,S, claimed there is no way anyone could get a fair trial in Russia as they had a 92 %conviction ratio,while the U.S. was, feds 64% states 44% NOW THE U,S, HAS A 98.8% conviction ratio, ALSO no one who has ever lied for the prosecution has ever been tried, period, fair??

Answer 7

Because in court we are suppose to be innocent until proved guilty.
There fore you plead not guilty and the prosecution has to prove you guilty.
When you plead not guilty you are not giving testimony, and you are not under oath, there fore you can not be charged with perjury.

Answer 8

Not 100% sure, but I think you make your Guilty or Innocent plea before you go under oath ? Perjury is lieing under oath, so it's not perjury.

Also it might be that Perjury only applies to witnesses ?

Answer 9

Being found guilty doesnt mean youve lied, its just the opinion of the court is against you. If it is prooved that youve lied, then youll be charged with perjury.

Answer 10

That's a very good question. I've thought about that myself.

I suspect it is just convention that they are not charged with perjury.

However I suspect the real reason is that if this happened then defendents would start to refuse to enter a plea at all at the start of the trial, which could cause problems.