“They are lying!” Often the first thing we hear from people shocked to discover that in our modern courts, lying — even perjury — is routinely tolerated.
Worse still, there are cases where individuals knowingly file false police reports to gain an advantage in family or criminal court proceedings.
We submitted public records requests to several California District Attorneys’ Offices, asking how many times over a 10-year period they prosecuted cases involving perjury or filing false documents (either in court or in the form of a police report). Only one county responded.
Case 1: Lake County
Lake County provided one case where a mother made false rape allegations in a police against her child’s father. Coming from a conservative family, she had been working as a caregiver for a disabled man, entered into a relationship with him, and became pregnant. Out of fear of her family’s reaction, she also filed for a restraining order, lying about the relationship that led to her pregnancy in order to win in court.
She was prosecuted for filing a false police report ( a misdeameanor) and for perjury ( a felony).
Case 2: Santa Clara County
The only other instance we could find of a district attorney prosecuting perjury or false document filings came from Santa Clara County, under DA Jeff Rosen and Public Defender Mary Greenwood. We found the case not through a public records request, but a published appeal.
The case involved a divorce heard by private judge Ed Mills. The mother, representing herself (“pro per”), faced her attorney ex-husband, who was represented by two attorneys — Lynne Yates Carter (now deceased) and Tracey Duall Cazes (now a private judge herself).
The case was referred from the private judge to the public court and district attorney, who accused the mother of filing false proofs of service and withdrawing $1 from a bank account in violation of a court order — even though she immediately repaid $1.01.
She claimed she withdrew the money only to show that the account, which held the proceeds from the sale of the family home, was not frozen and that her ex-husband — with two attorneys assisting him — could easily access it.
The result was devastating: She was sanctioned $1 million, declared a vexatious litigant, lost custody of her only son, and was denied access to community funds to hire her own lawyer — forcing her attorney to withdraw.
The Uneven Playing Field
One of the most troubling realities in family court is the lack of balance in legal representation. Roughly 90% of litigants represent themselves. Family court often feels like criminal court with a malicous prosecutor and an incompetent public defender- the defendant , much like a pro per in family court, doesn't stand a chance.
If you have an attorney, they can sign a proof of service. If you don’t, you must hire a process server or rely on someone else to serve documents — which can lead to disputes or accusations of falsification.
It’s unclear whether the mother in the Santa Clara case forged the proofs of service or simply couldn’t locate the friend she said had served them. Still, the lawyers labeled her a liar, and despite the rarity of such prosecutions, the Santa Clara DA pursued her case.
A Deeper Problem
The relationship between divorce attorneys, police, and district attorneys is more intertwined than most people realize.
This weekend, we’ll be reporting on these troubling patterns and systemic issues on my YouTube platform. Stay tuned. Here is today's short video: www.youtube.com/shorts/3sXmPG...
Susan Bassi
“They are lying!”
Often the first thing we hear from people shocked to discover that in our modern courts, lying — even perjury — is routinely tolerated.
Worse still, there are cases where individuals knowingly file false police reports to gain an advantage in family or criminal court proceedings.
We submitted public records requests to several California District Attorneys’ Offices, asking how many times over a 10-year period they prosecuted cases involving perjury or filing false documents (either in court or in the form of a police report). Only one county responded.
Case 1: Lake County
Lake County provided one case where a mother made false rape allegations in a police against her child’s father.
Coming from a conservative family, she had been working as a caregiver for a disabled man, entered into a relationship with him, and became pregnant. Out of fear of her family’s reaction, she also filed for a restraining order, lying about the relationship that led to her pregnancy in order to win in court.
She was prosecuted for filing a false police report ( a misdeameanor) and for perjury ( a felony).
Case 2: Santa Clara County
The only other instance we could find of a district attorney prosecuting perjury or false document filings came from Santa Clara County, under DA Jeff Rosen and Public Defender Mary Greenwood. We found the case not through a public records request, but a published appeal.
The case involved a divorce heard by private judge Ed Mills.
The mother, representing herself (“pro per”), faced her attorney ex-husband, who was represented by two attorneys — Lynne Yates Carter (now deceased) and Tracey Duall Cazes (now a private judge herself).
The case was referred from the private judge to the public court and district attorney, who accused the mother of filing false proofs of service and withdrawing $1 from a bank account in violation of a court order — even though she immediately repaid $1.01.
She claimed she withdrew the money only to show that the account, which held the proceeds from the sale of the family home, was not frozen and that her ex-husband — with two attorneys assisting him — could easily access it.
The result was devastating:
She was sanctioned $1 million, declared a vexatious litigant, lost custody of her only son, and was denied access to community funds to hire her own lawyer — forcing her attorney to withdraw.
The Uneven Playing Field
One of the most troubling realities in family court is the lack of balance in legal representation. Roughly 90% of litigants represent themselves. Family court often feels like criminal court with a malicous prosecutor and an incompetent public defender- the defendant , much like a pro per in family court, doesn't stand a chance.
If you have an attorney, they can sign a proof of service.
If you don’t, you must hire a process server or rely on someone else to serve documents — which can lead to disputes or accusations of falsification.
It’s unclear whether the mother in the Santa Clara case forged the proofs of service or simply couldn’t locate the friend she said had served them. Still, the lawyers labeled her a liar, and despite the rarity of such prosecutions, the Santa Clara DA pursued her case.
A Deeper Problem
The relationship between divorce attorneys, police, and district attorneys is more intertwined than most people realize.
This weekend, we’ll be reporting on these troubling patterns and systemic issues on my YouTube platform. Stay tuned. Here is today's short video: www.youtube.com/shorts/3sXmPG...
2 days ago (edited) | [YT] | 513