Lying in court

We have no idea why defendants lie in court. It is rare for someone to come up with a story that has the court so baffled that there is no other option than to give it at least the benefit of the doubt.

It is obviously not our task to tell suspects in criminal cases what they should and should not do; it’s a free world and they can do whatever they want. In the end it comes down to taking responsibility – and that is not everybody’s forte.

In this sense one could almost admire the young man who killed his grandfather and then owned up to it. Compare that to the man who was caught with a firearm and then started making up stories how he has found it in a garbage bag, thought it was a pellet gun, and had plans to hand it over to the police.

But on the first occasion to do this, when police asked him if he was carrying a weapon, he just showed a knife. Of course, the officers found the gun as well and now this defendant has been hit with a 15-month prison sentence.

That part of this sentence is conditional is irrelevant; the suspended part keeps hanging over his head for three years after he has served the other part.

Would he have been better off by telling the truth from the get-go? We’re not sure about that, but in the end, you have to live with yourself too. One thing is certain: lying in court has never resulted in a lower sentence; something to think about for the next batch of defendants.