Smollet should also face perjury, hate crime, and federal mail fraud charges.
Why does it seem that no one considers perjury a crime any more? It's ok for people to just lie their asses off in court under oath.
That's a good point Connie. And you're right, most criminal defendants who lie under oath and are convicted (or not) are never prosecuted for perjury.
BUT, the beauty of sentencing under most circumstances (probation to say 10 years) gives a judge pretty good leeway to punish the perjury. I've see it done in civilian and military courts (where you have a pretty good idea what the average sentence would be for a given crime(s), and it turns out higher than average). And you know why.
And a defense attorney is not allowed to
knowingly suborn perjury by his client. Of course, you may have a real good idea he's lying, but not KNOW he's lying. But many times I told guys, look I wasn't there, and we'll go with what you say, but that sounds like a great big lie to me, and it's going to sound like a great big lie to everyone. So please go home and think up a better (or even truthful) story, because the one you just told me will get you hammered. You will get punished for your crime,
and punished for your sworn lies. And I once got fired for delivering this little speech, which was OK by me (the Air Force paid my salary, not my clients)
Under the Code of Professional Responsibility of every State/Federal Bar, if you
actually know your client intends to lie, you may not actively assist him in delivering his testimony by guiding him with questions. Once he's under oath, you tell him to tell his story, then sit down. The problem with this is that all attorneys and judges and court people know that asking the one question and sitting down is an announcement the man is about to lie (or his counsel believes he's about to lie). The jury may not know, and may not be told.
Then the prosecution goes after him with a vengeance on cross examination. Sometimes for hours.
Most of the time, an attorney cannot
actually know the truth, but sometimes he does.
Now I know that in the real world, especially with people who have money to hire top talent, the defense team actively assists in refining the lies to be nicely consistent with the objective evidence, and rehearsing and teaching the defendant how to lie convincingly. But it's strictly against the rules, and I never did it.
Not only do they not prosecute defendants who lie under oath, but they rarely refer attorneys to Bar disciplinary investigations or take action for helping their clients lie.
