Court of Law Question?

Question

If you are called to the stand to testify and you answer "No" to the question "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?" what happens? Is that a crime or can you just not testify?

Answer 1

G. Gordon Liddy did that in front of the Senate Watergate hearings.

He was jailed for Contempt of Congress. A court can do the same.

He ultimately spent more time locked up for that than anyone else involved.

Answer 2

You can chose to testify without taking the oath. But your testimony is weaker because no one believes anything you say, Therefore there is no point in being a witness in the first place.

Answer 3

its called purgery - which is a criminal offense, or it could be concidered contempt of court, which can be a criminal offense....and, it is a violation of the constitution of the united states - by the constitution you - YES - YOU!!! are bound to give up all information when asked by the court, or a recognised attorney who is assigned or retained to the case. also, you are required by the same laws to show up in court when subpoened...if someone knew somthing about you, and they could keep you out of jail by telling the court, and when under oat that person stated that he/she would not tell - I think you would be a little upset. by living in this greay country there are some rules that are in place to keep you from violating the rights of other citizens - this is one of those laws - you could be punished for not releasing information to a court when legaly bound to do so by the constitution.

Answer 4

I recall a case where someone did that and they were declared a hostile witness.

Answer 5

idk.....