Judge Laurie Peterson, a judge for the Criminal Court of the City of New York, trended on Trellis last week for sentencing Allen H. Weisselberg, Trump’s former Chief Financial Officer, to five additional months in Rikers Prison for perjury. Did Judge Peterson seek to make an example out of Weisselberg by sentencing him to additional jail time? Did the punishment fit his crime? You be the judge as we get into the details.
Background
Last month, Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury committed in 2020 when he admitted to helping Trump inflate his net worth to win favorable loan terms. Weisselberg had previously been in jail because of his criminal affiliation with Trump on charges of tax evasion. Perjury is a crime rarely punished by jail time. Still, in Weisselberg’s case, the prosecution proved that his lies had a material impact on Trump’s criminal fraud, directly impacting the case.
Weisselberg admitted to lying to investigators about false financial statements regarding Trump’s triplex apartment in Trump Tower, which was listed as 30,000 square feet when, in reality, it was only 10,996 square feet. According to reports, he also “admitted to lying about whether he had been present when Mr. Trump inflated the square footage” and admitted lying to the attorney general and during trial testimony “when he played down his involvement in valuing the triplex. Weisselberg, who served Trump’s family for fifty years, previously spent time in Rikers Island for tax fraud.
Perjury: A Crime that Frustrates Investigations and Hinders Justice
Perjury, outlined in 18 U.S.C. § 1621, is the act of willfully making false statements under oath or in written statements under penalty of perjury. This law applies to statements made in federal court, congressional hearings, and other sworn proceedings. Evidencing perjury requires demonstrating both a material misstatement and the willful intent to deceive, as affirmed by the Supreme Court in Bronston v. United States.
Proving perjury poses significant challenges. A prosecutor must demonstrate not only a material falsehood but also an intention to deceive by the individual, showing that they knowingly made a false statement. According to Helen Klein Murillo’s article, The Law of Lying: Perjury, False Statements, and Obstruction, “There are numerous justifications for criminalizing lying: lies frustrate investigations, waste time and resources, and threaten incorrect results.” In the case at hand, Weisselberg knowingly made false statements to coverup for the fact that he knew Trump inflated his assets to get favorable loans, which speaks directly to the criminal charges against Trump, making Weisselberg’s omissions material misstatements directly related to the crime.
Deterrence Against Lying in Court Proceedings
According to an article by Angela Chen, “perjury is often considered the ‘forgotten offense’ despite it being widespread, it is rarely prosecuted due to … the highly technical nature of the offense. [Researchers] point to problems in drafting indictments, in proving materiality of the alleged false testimony, and in meeting the stringent evidentiary rules.” Making a false statement by itself is not perjury. To be criminal, the statement must “affect the issue at hand, and people are usually not convicted for false statements that don’t influence the court.”
Weisselberg’s false statements about the size of Trump’s apartment amounted to criminal acts because the false statements resulted in Trump receiving more favorable loans from the banks. And this amounted to fraud. One could reasonably argue that Judge Peterson sought to make an example out of Weisselberg when she sentenced him to jail for his role in business fraud and to deter future Trump affiliates from lying during investigations related to his criminal proceedings.
Do you agree with her decision?
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Sources:
Judge Bio Page:
https://trellis.law/judge/laurie.peterson
News & Article Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/10/nyregion/allen-weisselberg-sentenced-trump.html
https://daily.jstor.org/why-is-perjury-so-rarely-prosecuted
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/law-lying-perjury-false-statements-and-obstruction
Music: Cast No Shadow by Anka Mason
Blog Narration: Anka Mason
