lamlawindy
Verified lawyer Indiana
- Joined
- May 25, 2017
- Messages
- 483
- Reaction score
- 6,088
Hello All;
As a former state trial judge doing criminal cases exclusively for over thirty years, I am making my initial foray onto this site. I have a lot of catching up to do but this comment about courts permitting LE to lie to get at the truth of a case was so overboard that I wish to correct its breath. Courts do not operate on the theory that the end justifies the means 'to get at the truth of a case'. It is OK for LE to tell a suspect that their fingerprint was found at the scene in an effort to get an admission or some statement for the suspect. Courts do not sanction lying in court to a judge or jury regarding facts.
Quite correct. Quick question: During closing, do you allow defense counsel -- if police admit to lying to a defendant for investigatory purposes during the cases in chief -- to argue that we don't know whether we can rely on the officers' testimony because they've shown that they have lied during the investigation?