Last November, Penn State administration Tim Curley and Gary Shultz stepped down from their positions as Athletic Directors to the school's sports teams; they were facing perjury charges for possibly lying to a grand jury about Jerry Sandusky's investigation when he was charged with child abuse. Have you recently been a witness in a court case and are afraid that the information you gave is not legitimate? Perjuring yourself in court can have some serious legal consequences. In order to make sure that you are guaranteed your rights, it might be poignant to hire an attorney with a good reputation and a high acquittal rate. If you are unsure what to expect next, here is some basic information about the rights, and consequences of perjury.

Perjury is committed when someone knowingly does not give correct information while testifying on the stand. Perjury is unlawful because the false information can affect the bearing of the case; this might also affect the verdict as well. Also in order for perjury to be unlawful it must be material to the case, there must also be evidence that the perjured committed the act intentionally. Therefore, if you accidentally stated something that was false in a court room while under oath, it means that you will most likely not be charged with perjury. If you are charged with the offense, a court may charge you in the following ways:

• False testimony under oath;
• Falsely written information; and
• Signing documents with knowing false information

There are also certain situations that may arise that are potential situations for committing perjury. If you sign a loan with knowledge of false information, you may be charged with perjury. Also, if you sign a loan or a driver's license with the words, "I declare under the penalty of perjury that the above statements are true and correct" you are putting yourself in this same situation. If you are a police officer, you also may be charged with perjury if you make statements on a police report that contains inaccurate information; other ways that citizens may be charged is if they lie on their income tax statements or tax returns.

You may also be charged with another type of perjury called subornation of perjury; this means that you willingly persuaded someone to give false information in the latter ways. If you are convicted of perjury you can be penalized in the following ways: prison time of two to four years, probation, restitution made to the compromised, fines, as well as community service. In California, perjuring yourself is penalized with a felony; depending upon what court the charged testified in, it may also be considered a federal offense.

If you have hired a skilled defense attorney, there are a couple of defenses that could be used; one source alleges that perjury is an incredibly hard charge to prove. A defense attorney might point out that the wording of the question was confusing to the client and therefore show that the accused could not have answered the question lawfully due to circumstances beyond their control. They might also claim that the defendant spoke without knowledge of the offense because their memory was not clear when testifying Another way to defend a charge is to explain to the court that the statement made by the defendant was not completely false. In order for perjury to be considered a valid offense, the act requires that the statement be entirely false. Therefore, if you have not sought legal advice, it may be in your best interest to pursue this course of action today.