Opinion ID: 1950063
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Nature of the Crime and Its Investigation

Text: Respondent contends that his criminal conduct is mitigated because it occurred during the course of an investigation into activities of another person, that the grand jury was not primarily concerned with the respondent's conduct, and also because no one was injured. We emphatically disagree. When an officer of the court is convicted of knowingly making false statements to a grand jury investigating corrupt practices in the government of this state, every citizen and every institution of government is harmed. More broadly, the very act of lying to a judicial tribunal strikes at the heart of the legal process and leaves as victims all who strive for justice. This Court has never condoned such conduct. On the contrary, the Court previously said in Dodd v. The Florida Bar [25] that an attorney who gives false testimony in a judicial proceeding deserves the harshest penalty. We are not alone in this view. [26]