Opinion ID: 1189282
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Alleged Perjury by a Government Witness

Text: Hoffecker next argues that his right to due process was violated when a former Global employee, Gregory Swarn, allegedly perjured himself during his trial testimony. In particular, Hoffecker claims that Swarn testified falsely with respect to his education on direct examination when he stated that he had received a college degree. Hoffecker points out that on cross-examination, when his attorney questioned Swarn about a transcript that showed that he was five hours short of completing the degree, Swarn explained that he had graduated from college and had completed his requirements because course work from another institution should have been credited to him. Hoffecker also claims that Swarn testified falsely as to his employment with Global. On cross-examination, defense counsel produced broker/trader licensing applications in which Swarn did not list Global as a prior place of employment. On re-direct, Swarn explained that he had not admitted to having worked at Global and several other companies because those companies had been scams, not legitimate businesses. Also during cross-examination, defense counsel noted that Swarn had not told the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or the United States Probation Office in Florida that he had worked at Global. Swarn explained that he had not wanted to volunteer the information because he had not paid taxes on income from Global and that the FBI did not ask him specifically about Global. Finally, in response to defense counsel's questions about why there was no documentation showing that Swarn had been on the Global payroll, Swarn testified that he had been paid in cash. Approximately three weeks after Swarn's testimony had concluded, Hoffecker filed a motion to dismiss the indictment or, in the alternative, to strike Swarn's testimony and a motion for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate Swarn's alleged perjury. The District Court denied the motion. A witness commits perjury if he or she gives false testimony concerning a material matter with the willful intent to provide false testimony, rather than as a result of confusion, mistake, or faulty memory. United States v. Dunnigan, 507 U.S. 87, 94, 113 S.Ct. 1111, 1116, 122 L.Ed.2d 445 (1993). To establish a due process violation, Hoffecker must show that: (1) Swarn committed perjury; (2) the Government knew or should have known of Swarn's perjury; (3) Swarn's testimony went uncorrected; and (4) there is a reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the verdict. See Lambert v. Blackwell, 387 F.3d 210, 242 (3d Cir.2004). We review for clear error a trial court's factual finding that a witness's testimony was not false and we will not disturb that finding unless it is wholly unsupported by the evidence. United States v. Johnson, 327 U.S. 106, 111-12, 66 S.Ct. 464, 466, 90 L.Ed. 562 (1946); Gov't of V.I. v. Lima, 774 F.2d 1245, 1251 (3d Cir.1985). The District Court found that Hoffecker failed to show that Swarn had given false testimony or that the Government knowingly had offered perjured testimony. The court found that Swarn's testimony that he had received a college degree was not intentionally false because Swarn had offered an explanation for his belief that he had graduated. The court also found that Hoffecker could not show that Swarn was testifying falsely when he stated that he had worked for Global, despite the lack of documentation. The court found that Swarn's admission that he did not tell the Florida Probation Office about his employment at Global did not demonstrate that he committed perjury and appropriately could be addressed by defense counsel in his closing argument when discussing Swarn's credibility. Finally, the court found that evidence that Swarn might have lied in filling out regulatory or tax forms did not demonstrate that he had committed perjury when he testified in this case. We find that the District Court did not err when it found that Hoffecker had not shown that Swarn committed perjury. Swarn gave reasonable explanations for his alleged false testimony, leading us to conclude that he testified truthfully. Although defense counsel showed that Swarn previously had concealed his employment with Global, this circumstance does not mean that he lied about his employment on the witness stand and counsel was free to comment on Swarn's credibility during closing argument. It must be remembered that we are concerned here with whether Swarn's testimony was false in this case, not whether he had been forthright in other situations. Moreover, Hoffecker did not show that the Government knew or should have known of Swarn's alleged perjury. In fact, we are surprised that Hoffecker has raised these rather inconsequential matters as a basis for a reversal here inasmuch as when Swarn's allegedly false testimony is considered within the context of the entire case we see no chance at all that, even if false, it could have affected the verdict. In these circumstances, the Government's use of Swarn's testimony did not violate Hoffecker's due process rights.