Do Not Lie to a Family Court Judge
It seems like it’s a pretty common-sense idea to not lie to a judge, but one Florida woman was willing to take the risk when it came to her children. Unfortunately, the judge discovered the lie, and she is now facing a 5-year perjury sentence.
In the incidence in question, the woman was found to have fabricated the threatening emails and Facebook messages that were used to win full custody of her children. After her ex-husband raised concerns about the messages, police began looking a little more closely and found that there were more than a few suspicious things about the messages. They were found to be written in similar voices, the pacing between replies was almost perfectly consistent, and at one point there was an exchange that made no sense since she had forgotten to switch accounts before replying.
All of this lead to police determining that she had made up the accounts impersonating her ex-husband, and then created threatening messages in order to paint a violent, abusive picture of him.
The judge found her guilty of perjury, and sentenced her to 5 years in prison. While she may have been trying to do what she could to protect her children, it is never ever acceptable to lie to a judge. The entire point of a judge’s decision during a custody agreement is to find whatever is best for the children. It is a legally binding decision that is the best possible outcome to an unfortunate situation.
If she had let the divorce proceedings continue normally, even if she was not awarded full custody, she would likely still have had some form of visitation rights. Instead, she will miss out on her children’s early years, and they will grow up with the knowledge that their mother served prison time.
Do not lie to a judge. Get an experienced attorney on your side, and use every legal angle you can find.
Source: http://swtimes.com/news/florida-woman-pleads-guilty-perjury-fort-smith-custody-case