So you feel there should be zero tolerance, for lying to a police officer for any reason whatsoever?
I should have spent a little more time on the hypothetical, but after the lady was proven to have lied to the police about the allnight restaurant, she did tell the truth, that she was in the old building. She could not prove that until someone came forward in the middle of the trial with proof she had been near the old building. She was totally innocent of the murder, and was lying out of fear of her abusive husband.
Anyway, I just think the precedent that could be set from the judges decision will have some major impact in the future, and a lot of people who may not realize it right now, could be affected by this decision.
As always, my entire post is my opinion only
It is a good hypothetical, because I thought about it for the last hour as I picked a mountain of tomatoes and beans in my garden.
I think we have to set strong penalties for lying to police. We can't really function as a society if we do not consider honesty a core value. Police investigations seem to consist largely of conversations with citizens. If they cannot get honest answers, their ability to uncover the truth is significantly hindered.
I don't have an elegant answer for why the state must seek reimbursement in this case. All I can say is that in your hypothetical the woman lied to preserve her safety in a situation where she was powerless.
FCA was in no danger, and she had ample power to help herself. Her lie was unnecessary and embellished way beyond the point of substituting one location for another. Big fat lies all over the place, here. She was also given many opportunities to correct her initial mistruth, and she was told about the consequences of persisting in her lie. She lied for only 1 reason- she had to or she would be found out due to the evidence that was in the process of deteriorating.
I can think of other situations when a person would lie to the police to protect their safety, but I can't think of a single situation, other than guilt, why a perfectly "safe" person would lie given these circumstances. Mental illness, I guess- which was implied, but not substantiated at trial.
I'd hope that any judge considering this as precedent would employ some discretion about pursuing reimbursement. I don't know what the legal angle is on this type of discretion.
I'd also like to add that the lie was not fully exposed until the trial. The police could have considered that the bogus nanny was somehow implicated in the death of Caylee, upon finding her remains. FCA was the only person who could clear up the confusion. Her parents continued to supply new tidbits and admonishments to the police about pursuing the wrong angle on her behalf.
Thanks for something to think about.