Poll: Would you ever lie on a witness stand?

[Kortney]

A lie by omission ("Do you remember what happened that night?" "No.") to protect a friend I believed to be wrongly accused, I would do.

Otherwise, on the witness stand as in life, I swear by the goddess Iustitia to remain ever honest in my dealings with people and the world. To lie is against my religious beliefs (and oh by the way, for all you Christians out there, yours too.)

Bit of a contradiction there though. Unless your religion says "Never lie! Unless you believe it is right to do so!"

Doesn't make much sense.

 

[Jedoro]

The justice system works best if everyone plays by the rules. Plus if I'm on the stand it means I'm not on trial, so what do I have to lose?

 

[CMon]

I would say no, but that's only because I'm an exceptionally good liar...

 

[stone0042]

Probably not, unless I know for a fact that the judical system was completely compromised, and therefore my oath meaningless. Even then, I'd be very uncomfortable doing so if the oath involved God.

 

[Blue_vision]

Yes. But it'd have to be a particular case where I feel in order for what is right to happen, I have to lie.

This. And not something that's using your testimony to solely prove someone's guilt.

Especially if it's one of those bullshit defences that relies on conditionalities or whatever (that's probably not the right term but it's escaping me right now and I think it's similar.)

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

No, because I'm pretty sure it's punishable with prison time.

 

[Naheal]

A lie by omission ("Do you remember what happened that night?" "No.") to protect a friend I believed to be wrongly accused, I would do.

Otherwise, on the witness stand as in life, I swear by the goddess Iustitia to remain ever honest in my dealings with people and the world. To lie is against my religious beliefs (and oh by the way, for all you Christians out there, yours too.)

Bit of a contradiction there though. Unless your religion says "Never lie! Unless you believe it is right to do so!"

Doesn't make much sense.

There's a difference between an outright lie and omitting the truth. Never once does Christianity state that we have to tell the whole truth all the time, nor does it state that we must be completely straight with the truth all the time. It simply states that bearing false witness, i.e. providing outright wrong information, against a neighbor is bad.

 

[OverlordSteve]

Depends on how wacky the attorneys are. If they're off-the-wall crazy, it's best to just play it straight, as I could be in an Ace Attorney game.

 

[Biosophilogical]

Yes. But it'd have to be a particular case where I feel in order for what is right to happen, I have to lie.

Damn you abd your ninja skills.

OT: S/he's right. The only thing stopping you from lying is fear of legal consequence and moral obligation. So if the moral obligation to lie is great enough, anyone will lie on the witness stand.

 

[Danish rage]

For personal gain? sure
For my friends and loved ones? sure

Have i done it before? sure
Will i do it again? sure

Anything else i will deny beeing there in the first place or don´t recall shit, unlees we talk a rape or somethin simmelar, but then chances are im gonna lie on the behalf of the offended to get maximum punishment.

 

[thylasos]

I can't imagine a situation where I would, to be honest. Certainly I would, and have, campaigned against unjust laws, but I wouldn't lie to a jury of my peers.

 

[crudus]

Nope. That would mean I committed perjury. I don't care why I would be lying; I am not going down for it.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Snitches are bitches. I wouldn't say a thing.

 

[TWRule]

No, I wouldn't. If I didn't want the truth to be known, I never would have agreed to a truth-telling oath in the first place. Once I'm under oath, I'm obliged to tell the truth. Even if it was to protect myself, I wouldn't lie, because I believe in the need to take responsibility for my actions.

 

[o_O]

Look up perjury. If you're caught, I hope you're willing to pay the price (which many are willing to do for whatever reason they have at the time).

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

If it suits my purposes and I know I can get away with it then hell yes, I will lie.

Every legal proceeding in the world is just a hypocritical sham anyway...

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

No, I wouldn't. If I didn't want the truth to be known, I never would have agreed to a truth-telling oath in the first place. Once I'm under oath, I'm obliged to tell the truth. Even if it was to protect myself, I wouldn't lie, because I believe in the need to take responsibility for my actions.

You do know that sometimes in some countries people are forced into testifying in a criminal case right?

Would it really be fair to honor an oath that you basically have been forced to take under duress?