Source: https://www.shouselaw.com/offering-preparing-false-evidence.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 00:55:15+00:00

Document:
The Crimes of "Offering & Preparing False Evidence"
Most people can probably guess that it's a bad idea to try to use fake or altered evidence in a California court proceeding, such as a criminal jury trial or a traffic court hearing. But what you may not know is that it's not just a bad idea...it's also a crime.
The good news is that you can't be convicted of either offering or preparing false evidence unless a prosecutor can prove that you knew what you were doing.
It can be difficult to show beyond a reasonable doubt what a defendant knew, or intended to do. Therefore, lack of knowledge or lack of intent can be a powerful legal defense against Penal Code 132 PC or Penal Code 134 PC charges.
1. Legal definition of "offering false evidence"
2. Legal definition of "preparing false evidence"
This includes not only criminal trials and civil trials...but also things like traffic court hearings18 and pretty much any other kind of hearing or investigation that's authorized by California law.
As we discussed above, you can only be convicted under Penal Code 132 PC for offering false written evidence. In contrast, Penal Code 134 PC makes it a crime to prepare any kind of false evidence.
Example: William is on probation. One of the conditions of his probation is that he stay drug-free. When he goes to meet with his probation officer for a urine test, he uses a special kit that allows him to pass someone else's urine off as his own to provide the sample.
California courts have also shown that they're willing to adopt a pretty broad definition of "false."
Example: Andrew (whom we mentioned above) is trying to fight a traffic ticket for running a stop sign. To help his case, he gives the court a photo that he claims is of the intersection where he was supposed to have run the stop sign. The photo shows that there is no stop sign visible at that intersection. In fact, though, the photo is of another intersection, not the one where Andrew is supposed to have run the stop sign.
Example: Sam is wrongly accused of California robbery for robbing a convenient store. The security camera photos of the robbery show a man with a ponytail. Sam has short hair...but he used to have a ponytail, and he happens to have gotten it cut off just a couple of days after the robbery happened.
Sam finds a digital photo of himself right after he had his ponytail cut off (showing him with short hair). With the help of a friend who is good with computers, Sam changes the date stamp on the photo to make it look like it was taken before the robbery...rather than a few days after. Sam may be guilty of preparing false evidence.
Another key way in which the crime of preparing false evidence is broader than the crime of offering false evidence is that you can be convicted of the former even if the evidence was never offered in court...or if it was, but by someone other than you.
However, you can't be convicted of violating Penal Code 134 PC unless you actually intended for the false evidence you prepared to be produced in a legal proceeding.28 If the prosecutor can't prove that this was actually your intent, you can't be found guilty.
Example: Let's say Sam, from our last example, wants to change the date stamp on his photo but doesn't know how. He calls his friend Mark, who's a computer expert, and asks him to help. Mark changes the date stamp for him.
Mark has just prepared false evidence for Sam. But Sam did not tell Mark why he wanted his help, and Mark doesn't know that Sam plans to use the photo with the fake date at his criminal trial. So Mark can't be guilty of the crime of preparing false evidence, because he didn't intend to have the photo submitted in court.
The last element of the crime of preparing false evidence is that you had a "fraudulent or deceptive purpose"-meaning that you have to have actually intended to fool or deceive someone with the false evidence.
Example: Mary is a sixteen-year-old juvenile who has been arrested for shoplifting. As part of the juvenile delinquency proceeding against her, she is asked to give the address where she lives. Mary is not taking the process seriously at all, and she gives the address of the White House, where the President of the United States lives.
Mary obviously meant to play a joke by giving a false address. Because she didn't mean to actually deceive anyone, she is probably not guilty of preparing or submitting false evidence.
Charges of submitting false evidence (Penal Code 132 PC) or preparing false evidence (Penal Code 134 PC) in California are quite serious. Luckily, there is no shortage of potential legal defenses to these charges. An experienced California criminal defense attorney can help determine which defenses will be most helpful in an individual case.
As we discussed above, you can't be convicted of offering false evidence unless you knew the evidence was false.29 Because of this, the common legal defense of mistake of fact can be useful in fighting these charges.
"Let's say you were mistaken about an important fact, and because of this you didn't know the evidence was false. If your mistake was reasonable, you may be able to use this to prove that you didn't have knowledge, which is the required state of mind to be guilty of offering false evidence."
Intent is not always easy for prosecutors to prove. Many people who get involved in court cases or other legal proceedings are confused and overwhelmed by the incredible amount of paper and documents involved. If this happened to you, you may be able to show that you did not have the required intent to be convicted on false evidence charges.
In false evidence cases, California entrapment laws can also be a helpful legal defense.
Entrapment is most likely to lead to false evidence charges in situations involving criminal charges against more than one defendant.
For example, let's say you are accused of being involved in drug trafficking with a well-known drug lord. The prosecutor really wants to get a conviction of the drug lord...and so might use the threat of lighter charges against you to get you to help produce or prepare false or misleading evidence that will lead to the drug lord's conviction. This kind of prosecutorial misconduct is all too common. If you are later charged with offering or preparing false evidence, the entrapment defense may help you fight the charges.
Offering or preparing false evidence, no matter how minor, is a felony in California law in California.
The crime of destroying or concealing evidence is a misdemeanor in California.38 The maximum penalty is up to six (6) months in county jail, a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both39.
Another form of criminal obstruction of justice crime is planting or tampering with evidence per Penal Code 141. This crime occurs when someone takes real evidence and moves or alters it in a way that can lead to someone else being wrongly charged with a crime, or false evidence wrongly being presented as true.40 The classic case of evidence planting would be someone placing evidence of criminal activity (like illegal drugs or a gun) in the car or home of their enemy in order to get them arrested.
Forgery is the crime of signing someone's name without their permission , or knowingly changing or creating a written document, with the intent to commit a fraud.
Forgery is the crime of signing someone's name without their permission or knowingly changing or creating a written document, with the intent to commit a fraud.43 It is a so-called "wobbler" offense, which means that it can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony in California.
If you or loved one is charged with Penal Code 132 & 134 PC preparing false evidence and you are looking to hire an attorney for representation, we invite you to contact us at Shouse Law Group. We can provide a free consultation in office or by phone. We have local offices in Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, Pasadena, Long Beach, Orange County, Ventura, San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, San Diego, Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and throughout California.
If you've been arrested in Nevada, please see our page on Nevada law re offering false evidence.
People v. Bamberg, (2009) 175 Cal.App.4th 618, 621-24 (the defendant was convicted of violating Penal Code 134 PC in a proceeding to contest a ticket for running a stop sign).
Penal Code 132 PC - Offering false evidence; Penal Code 134 PC - Preparing false evidence.
People v. Morrison, (2011) 191 Cal.App.4th 1551, 1555. ("Section 134 provides that a person is guilty of a felony if he or she (1) prepares a false matter or thing, (2) with intent to produce it, or allow it to be produced as true upon any trial, proceeding, or inquiry, whatever, authorized by law, (3) for any fraudulent or deceitful purpose.") (internal quotation marks omitted).
People v. Bhasin, 176 Cal.App.4th 461, 463-64 (2009).
People v. Hooper, (1935) 10 Cal.App.2d 332, 334.
Penal Code 132 PC - Offering false evidence.
People v. Bamberg, (2009) 175 Cal.App.4th 618, 621-24.
This case actually concerned Penal Code 134 PC (preparing false evidence), not Penal Code 132 PC (offering false evidence). But the language in Penal Code 132 PC ("upon any trial, proceeding, inquiry, or investigation whatever, authorized or permitted by law") is broader than that in Penal Code 134 PC ("upon any trial, proceeding, or inquiry whatever, authorized by law"), and so the reasoning in this case applies to Penal Code 132 PC cases as well.
Penal Code 134 PC - Preparing false evidence.
Based on People v. Morrison, 191 Cal.App.4th 1551, 1553-54 (2011).
Our Rancho Cucamonga criminal defense lawyers handle all types of misdemeanor and felony cases in California criminal courts, including the Rancho Cucamonga courthouse, the Fontana courthouse, and the Chino courthouse.
See People v. Fields, (1980) 105 Cal.App.3d 341.

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