Missoula County opposes HB 687: Revise laws relating to perjury and false swearing, up for hearing at 7 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 27 in the House Judiciary Committee.
This bill would require an investigation performed by an agency outside of the judiciary or an officer of the court for credible allegations of perjury. But perjury or false swearing cases rely on evidence from the court reporter and the judge so adding an investigation is unnecessary and will likely slow down court proceedings.
To convict a person of perjury or false swearing, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that an offense occurred. This bill would create an additional investigation without any current statues dictating how to conduct it. Rather than focusing on whether perjury occurred, this bill would turn prosecutions into fights over the sufficiency of an investigation before the case goes in front of a jury.
Representatives France, Howell and Zephyr,
ReplyDeleteMissoula County opposes HB 687: Revise laws relating to perjury and false swearing, up for hearing at 7 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 27 in the House Judiciary Committee.
This bill would require an investigation performed by an agency outside of the judiciary or an officer of the court for credible allegations of perjury. But perjury or false swearing cases rely on evidence from the court reporter and the judge so adding an investigation is unnecessary and will likely slow down court proceedings.
To convict a person of perjury or false swearing, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that an offense occurred. This bill would create an additional investigation without any current statues dictating how to conduct it. Rather than focusing on whether perjury occurred, this bill would turn prosecutions into fights over the sufficiency of an investigation before the case goes in front of a jury.
Please oppose HB 687.