Editing Police perjury

{{Short description|False testimony knowingly given by a police officer}}
{{use mdy dates |date=June 2020}}

In [[criminal law]], '''police perjury''', sometimes informally called "'''testilying'''",<ref name="Slobogin"></ref><ref>{{cite news
| last         = Hays
| first        = Tom
| date         = 21 March 1996
| title        = Law and Disorder: NYPD Tackles 'Testilying'
| url          = https://apnews.com/81be459b3bfa874f2afd5f43d51e969a
| work         = AP News
| access-date  = 10 June 2020
}}</ref> is the act of a [[police officer]] knowingly giving [[perjury|false testimony]]. It is typically used in a criminal trial to "make the case" against defendants believed by the police to be guilty when irregularities during the suspects' [[arrest]] or search threaten to result in their [[acquittal]]. It also can be extended to encompass substantive [[False statements of fact|misstatements of fact]] to convict those whom the police believe to be guilty, procedural misstatements to "justify" a [[search and seizure]], or even the inclusion of statements to frame an innocent citizen.<ref name="Slobogin">{{cite journal |url=http://www.constitution.org/lrev/slobogin_testilying.htm |journal=[[University of Colorado Law Review]] |date=Fall 1996 |title=Reform The Police: TESTILYING: POLICE PERJURY AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT |first1=Christopher |last1=Slobogin |volume=67 |page=1037 |publisher=[[University of Colorado Law School]] |location=Boulder, Colorado |access-date=December 28, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-police-false-testimony-edit-20150702-story.html |title=Editorial: Police perjury: It's called 'testilying' |author=Editorial Board |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=July 2, 2015 |access-date=March 8, 2019}}</ref> More generically, it has been said to be "[l]ying under oath, especially by a police officer, to help get a conviction."<ref name="McFedries">{{cite web |url=http://www.wordspy.com/words/testilying.asp |first1=Paul |last1=McFedries |publisher=Word Spy |title=testilying |access-date=December 28, 2012}}</ref>

==United States==
{{anchor|Blue wall of silence}}{{See also|Blue wall of silence}}
When police lie under oath, innocent people can be convicted and jailed; hundreds of convictions have been set aside as a result of such police misconduct.<ref name="Rocieniewski">{{cite news|last1=Rocieniewski|first1=David|date=January 5, 1997|title=Testilying in New York: "Most of the officers at the 30th Precinct during that time were lying about arrests they were making. That's just the way things were done."|newspaper=New York Times|url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pshell/gammage/testimonies/testilying-in-ny.html|access-date=December 26, 2012}}</ref> Some sources say that it is both a police and a prosecutorial problem and that it is a systemic response to the [[fruit of the poisonous tree]] doctrine, which was recognized in the [[US Supreme Court]] decision ''[[Mapp v. Ohio]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Malinowski|first1=Nick|date=February 3, 2013|title=Testilying: Cops are liars who get away with perjury|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/testilying-cops-are-liars-who-get-away-with-perjury/|access-date=April 10, 2014}}</ref> Other authors have drawn a connection between perjury and an increased emphasis on the number of arrests and convictions made.<ref name="Keane-2011" /><ref name="alexander-2013">{{cite web|last1=Alexander|first1=Michelle|date=2 February 2013|title=Why Police Lie Under Oath|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/opinion/sunday/why-police-officers-lie-under-oath.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729224558/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/opinion/sunday/why-police-officers-lie-under-oath.html|archive-date=29 July 2014|access-date=13 March 2015|website=[[New York Times]]}}</ref> 

The extent of the practice is debated; journalists, activists, and defense attorneys have exposed numerous instances of false testimony,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Goldstein|first=Joseph|date=2018-03-22|title=Police 'Testilying' Remains a Problem. Here Is How the Criminal Justice System Could Reduce It.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/22/nyregion/police-lying-new-york.html|access-date=2021-04-15|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> but police officers and [[Police unions in the United States|police unions]], while acknowledging its occurrence, deny that it is widespread or systemic.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Goldstein|first=Joseph|date=2018-03-18|title='Testilying' by Police: A Stubborn Problem|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/18/nyregion/testilying-police-perjury-new-york.html|access-date=2021-04-15|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The defense attorney [[Alan Dershowitz]] argued, in the [[The New York Times|New York Times]] and before a [[United States congressional hearing|congressional hearing]], that police perjury is commonplace: 
<blockquote>As I read about the disbelief expressed by some prosecutors.... I thought of [[Claude Rains]]'s classic response, in ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'' on being told there was gambling in Rick's place: "I'm shocked—shocked." For anyone who has practiced criminal law in the state or Federal courts, the disclosures about rampant police [[perjury]] cannot possibly come as a surprise. "Testilying"—as the police call it—has long been an open secret among prosecutors, defense lawyers, and judges.<ref name="Dershowitz1">{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 2, 1994 |page=A1 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/02/opinion/controlling-the-cops-accomplices-to-perjury.html |title=Accomplices to Perjury |first1=Alan |last1=Dershowitz |author-link=Alan Dershowitz |access-date=December 28, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Testimony on Testilying |first1=Alan M. |last1=Dershowitz |publisher=[[United States House of Representatives]] Judiciary Committee |date=December 1, 1998 |url=http://www.constitution.org/lrev/dershowitz_test_981201.htm |access-date=December 28, 2012}}</ref></blockquote>

In 1995, the ''[[Boston Globe]]'' reported that New York Police Commissioner [[William J. Bratton]] had created a furor by saying that he agreed with most of Dershowitz's statement.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bratton calls 'testilying' by police a real concern |url=https://secure.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/403741016.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+15%2C+1995&author=Flint%2C+Anthony&pub=Boston+Globe&edition=&startpage=&desc=Bratton+calls+%27testilying%27+by+police+a+real+concern|agency=[[Boston Globe]]|date=15 November 1995}}</ref> The ''Globe'' quoted Richard Bradley, then-president of the [[Boston Police Patrolmen's Association]]: "I find it incredible that he would say that. Every day all over the country, police officers are testifying. Everyone realizes they are testifying under oath. If this was this much a problem, it would have come to light over the years." Bradley said that in 27 years on the Boston force he had never encountered the practice.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stamper |first1=Norm |title=To Protect and Serve: How to Fix America's Police |date=2016 |publisher=PublicAffairs |isbn=978-1-56858-541-3 |page=193 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aDLXCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA193 |access-date=8 May 2021}}</ref>

In a 1996 article in the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', "Has the Drug War Created an Officer Liars' Club?", Joseph D. McNamara, the chief of police of [[San Jose, California|San Jose]], said, "Not many people took defense attorney Alan M. Dershowitz seriously when he charged that Los Angeles cops are taught to lie at the birth of their careers at the Police Academy. But as someone who spent 35 years wearing a police uniform, I've come to believe that hundreds of thousands of law-enforcement officers commit felony perjury every year testifying about drug arrests." He also noted, "Within the last few years, police departments in Los Angeles, Boston, New Orleans, San Francisco, Denver, New York and in other large cities have suffered scandals involving police personnel lying under oath about drug evidence."<ref name="McNamara">{{cite news |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=February 11, 1996 |title=Has the Drug War Created an Officer Liars' Club? |url=http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcn6.htm |first1=Joseph D. |last1=McNamara |access-date=December 28, 2012}}</ref>

In 2011, after finding a former police detective, Jason Arbeeny, guilty of official misconduct for planting drugs on a suspect, Justice Gustin L. Reichbach of the [[New York Supreme Court]] wrote that he "thought [he] was not naïve, but even this court was shocked, not only by the seeming pervasive scope of misconduct but even more distressingly by the seeming casualness by which such conduct is employed."<ref name=stolarik-2011>{{cite web|last1=Stolarik|first1=Robert|title=Detective Is Found Guilty of Planting Drugs|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/02/nyregion/brooklyn-detective-convicted-of-planting-drugs-on-innocent-people.html |website=[[New York Times]]|access-date=13 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223030745/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/02/nyregion/brooklyn-detective-convicted-of-planting-drugs-on-innocent-people.html |date=1 November 2011|archive-date=February 23, 2020}}</ref> Arbeeny was then sentenced to five years of probation and 300 hours of community service.<ref>{{cite news |last=Yaniv |first=Oren |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-cop-jason-arbeeny-cries-judge-probation-judge-gustin-reichbach-4-years-article-1.1016083 |title=Ex-cop Jason Arbeeny cries for judge, gets probation; Judge Gustin Reichbach could have given him 4 years |newspaper=[[New York Daily News]] |location=New York |date=3 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204234838/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-cop-jason-arbeeny-cries-judge-probation-judge-gustin-reichbach-4-years-article-1.1016083 |access-date=27 February 2016 |archive-date=February 4, 2012 }}</ref> Also in 2011, a former San Francisco Police Commissioner, Peter Keane, wrote that lying under oath was a "routine practice" for narcotics officers.<ref name="Keane-2011">{{cite web|last1=Keane|first1=Peter|title=Why cops lie|url=http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Why-cops-lie-2388737.php|website=SFGate|access-date=13 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417222818/http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Why-cops-lie-2388737.php|archive-date=17 April 2014|date=15 March 2011}}</ref>

In 2019, the [[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court]] called out the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] and the [[United States Department of Justice National Security Division|National Security Division]] of the [[US Department of Justice]] for dishonesty in applications for continuance of a wiretap of Carter Page, saying that it called into question the reliability of other evidence submitted by the FBI.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/6600-fisa-court-demands-answers-fro/87f1132ddc399b0c99b1/optimized/full.pdf |date=December 17, 2019 |title=In Re Accuracy Concerns Regarding FBI Matters Submitted to the FISC |author=Rosemary M. Collyer, Presiding Judge, United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The FBI must avoid more Carter Page fiascos |author=Editorial Board |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 18, 2019 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-fbi-must-avoid-more-carter-page-fiascos/2019/12/18/bf60a5ea-21ce-11ea-86f3-3b5019d451db_story.html |quote=It was particularly egregious that an FBI lawyer altered an email that would have otherwise painted Mr. Page in a less concerning light.}}</ref> The practice was documented in a previous report released by the Department of Justice's Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, and was cited by the court.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Department of Justice Office of Inspector General |title=Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation |date=December 9, 2019 |author=Inspector General Michael Horowitz |url=https://www.justice.gov/storage/120919-examination.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/doj-inspector-general-finds-17-significant-errors-or-omissions-in-carter-page-fisa-applications |title=DOJ inspector general finds 17 'significant errors or omissions' in Carter Page FISA applications |author=Jerry Dunleavy |publisher=Washington Examiner |date=December 9, 2019 |quote="These errors and omissions resulted from case agents providing wrong or incomplete information to the National Security Division’s Office of Intelligence and failing to flag important issues for discussion."}}</ref>

Police officers who have been dishonest are sometimes referred to as "Brady cops." In ''[[Brady v. Maryland]]'', the US Supreme Court held that prosecutors are required to notify defendants and their attorneys of any favorable evidence, such as if a law enforcement official involved in a case has a sustained record of knowingly lying in an official capacity.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kamb|first=Lewis|author2=Nalder, Eric|date=January 29, 2008|title=Cops who lie don't always lose jobs|newspaper=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/local/349169_lying29.html|access-date=January 2, 2013}}</ref>

==Remedies==
A police officer's reputation for trustworthiness is an important asset to their effectiveness; police who have been caught lying to the court make poor witnesses, and previous convictions relying on their testimony can be vacated if their misconduct is pervasive. This can result in [[termination of employment|termination]], and such terminations have been judicially enforced.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/you-lie-you-die-dishonesty-derails-58665/ |date=February 29, 2016 |title="You Lie, You Die" – Dishonesty Derails Discrimination Case |quote=It's an expression you hear often among police officers and other sworn employees: 'You Lie, You Die.' That is, if you are caught being deceptive about any work-related subject, you will be terminated and your career will be over. This concept was endorsed in a recent appeals court case that can teach lessons to all employers about the importance of honesty in the workplace. |access-date=March 8, 2018}}</ref> About a perjured affidavit supporting a raid that killed two, [[Houston Police Department|Houston Police]] Chief [[Art Acevedo]] said "that's totally unacceptable. I've told my police department that if you lie, you die. When you lie on an affidavit, that's not sloppy police work, that's a crime."<ref>{{cite web |title='You Lie, You Die': Cops Admit to Lying About Raid that Left Innocent Couple Murdered |first1=Matt |last1=Agorist  |url=https://freedomoutpost.com/you-lie-you-die-cops-admit-to-lying-about-raid-that-left-innocent-couple-murdered/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190217185059/https://freedomoutpost.com/you-lie-you-die-cops-admit-to-lying-about-raid-that-left-innocent-couple-murdered/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=February 17, 2019 |date=February 15, 2019 |access-date=March 8, 2019}}</ref>

Some suggest that narrowing or blunting the exclusionary rule may get rid of the incentive for police to lie to the court. That has happened to the extent that the US Supreme Court has recognized exceptions like the "[[good faith exception]]." Some argue that civil liability could have a [[prophylactic]] effect on police misconduct. Others suggest that the ubiquity of video recordings, both by the police and by civilians, will operate to slow down the misconduct and to reverse the trend.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Balko|first1=Radley|date=April 16, 2014|title=The Watch: How do we fix the police 'testilying' problem?|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/04/16/how-do-we-fix-the-police-testilying-problem/|access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Brady material]]
*''[[Brady v. Maryland]]''
*[[Jencks Act]]
*[[Mark Fuhrman]]
*[[Perjury]]
*[[Pitchess motion]]
*[[Poisoning the well]]
*[[Police corruption]]
*[[List of wrongful convictions in the United States]]
*[[Witness tampering]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
*''[[Boston Globe]]'' November 15, 1995, Metro section, p.&nbsp;1: "Bratton calls 'testilying' by police a real concern"
*{{cite journal |url=https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&doctype=cite&docid=28+New+Eng.+L.+Rev.+1&key=aa8f8864e881dbce11df4edd826d279c |title=Just the Facts, Ma'am: Lying and the Omission of Exculpatory Evidence in Police Reports |author=Fisher, Stanley Z |volume=28 |journal=[[New England Law Review]] |page=1 |year=1993 |access-date=December 28, 2012}}
*{{cite news |url=http://www.news.yahoo.com/nypd-whistle-blowers-testify-stop-frisk-trial-155010119.html |title=NYPD whistle-blowers testify at stop-frisk trial |first1=Tom |last1=Hays |first2=Colleen |last2=Long  |publisher=Associated Press/Yahoo News |access-date=April 28, 2013}}
*{{cite news |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=February 11, 1996 |title=Has the Drug War Created an Officer Liars' Club? |url=http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcn6.htm |first1=Joseph D. |last1=McNamara|access-date=December 28, 2012}}
*{{cite journal |url=http://www.soc.umn.edu/~samaha/cases/cloud_dirty_secret.html|title= The Dirty Little Secret |author= Morgan, Cloud]|volume=43 |journal=[[Emory Law Journal]] |page=1311 |year=1994|access-date=December 28, 2012}} 
*{{cite journal |url=http://www.constitution.org/lrev/slobogin_testilying.htm |journal=[[University of Colorado Law Review]] |date=Fall 1996 |title=''Reform The Police:'' Testilying: Police perjury and what to do about it |first1=Christopher |last1=Slobogin |volume=67 |page=1037 |publisher=[[University of Colorado Law School]] |location=Boulder, Colorado|access-date=December 28, 2012}}

{{Miscarriage of Justice}}

[[Category:Police misconduct]]
[[Category:Perjury]]
[[Category:Testimony]]