The truth is always the best evidence.
Sitting in the back of the court today and I was reminded of one of my first cases and the lesson is as timely as ever.
All those years ago I was instructing a barrister (who is now a Federal Circuit Court judge) and our witness was on the stand. The witness was asked a seemingly innocuous question – ‘how tall was he?’
The witness replied, “five foot eight and three quarters”.
I was just a junior solicitor, but I knew in that instant that we were stuffed. Well, if not that exact instant, certainly in the one where the witness was asked if she stood by that statement and she confirmed that she was indeed certain that the man was,
‘definitely five foot eight and three quarters’.
The witness had no way of knowing the exact height of the person in question and the silly thing was, she didn’t need to. This was a Family Court trial, not a criminal one, and the height of the person was not a critical factor of identification. She was just being asked to fill in some basic details in her story, and yes, quite possibly being asked questions like this to test her credibility.
Well it worked – the witness cruelled her own case by insisting that she was so sure about his height, right down to a fraction of an inch. That raised the question in the minds of all present – if she was lying about that, then what else was she lying about? She had irretrievably damaged her credibility as a witness.
I don’t know why she lied, but in the context (where nothing of significance turned on this point), I don’t think that she did it with malice. I think that she was just so desperate to be believed that she told us what she thought we wanted to hear. I think she thought it would make her story more believable if she seemed confident on the details. In the end it did the opposite.
There are a lot of reasons why people lie. Some lie blatantly for personal gain – they tell lies so complex and contrived that they sometimes end up believing them themselves. Some lie to themselves because they can’t face the truth. Some lie to save face because they worry what others will think or how it will look under scrutiny. Some don’t even lie on purpose – they just get flustered under intense questioning on the stand.
My mother told me that you always get caught out when you lie. That, of course, isn’t always true but it is often the case. Most liars can’t keep their lies straight – they contradict themselves, make illogical connections trying to make the pieces fit, don’t think things through properly and become increasingly desperate when everything starts to unravel.
Lawyers are highly trained analysts who are just itching to find a discrepancy in the opposing side’s case. Judges spend all day, every day sorting out who’s telling the truth and who isn’t – it’s right there in the job title, they ‘judge’. Together we employ tried and tested legal principles that legal scholars have argued over for centuries to strike a balance that allows us to find the truth in a way that is fair, just and equitable.
That doesn’t mean that we always get it right but it does mean that we’ve seen a lot of these tricks before. We don’t need you to tell us what you think we want to hear. We just want to hear your story, your truth, in your own words. Even small or seemingly insignificant lies can damage your credibility and put your entire case at risk. (And that’s not to mention that it’s perjury and therefore a criminal offence and punishable, but that’s a story for another time).
And definitely don’t lie to your lawyer – if you’re not honest with us then we can’t properly advise you, can’t take steps to protect your interests and you might end up spending a lot of money only to have it all fall apart once the truth comes out. Book an appointment with us now to get expert family law advice.
Above all, tell the truth.
This Brisbane Times article entitled “The Family Court: top 10 mistakes” provides a useful exploration of some other areas of concern. Notice that the writer concurs with our assessment – the number one mistake you can make is to lie.
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