Could Shellie Zimmerman face perjury charges?

theGRIO REPORT - People are talking about it. Facebook pages are popping up calling for it. But could Shellie Zimmerman actually face perjury or contempt of court charges for misleading a Florida court about her husband's finances?...

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

Michael Grieco, a Miami defense attorney and former prosecutor with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office, says contempt charges, which would be initiated by the judge, and perjury charges, which would come from prosecutors, are relatively rare, but not impossible in a case like this. “It gets thrown around a lot, but the frequency of perjury charges is very low. It’s very hard to prove.”

If Judge Lester were to go forward with a contempt charge, Grieco says there would be a “fact-finding hearing,” and that Shellie Zimmerman would be entitled to an attorney of her own. She could face sanctions from fines to jail time if found guilty. But whether Lester will seek such a sanction is hard to tell. “It depends on the disposition of the judge,” Grieco says.

Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, says if Mrs. Zimmerman were to be charged with perjury, “the question becomes a matter of how, if at all, she could explain her statements at the bond hearing.” Coffey says that based on the transcript of the bond hearing, during which Shellie Zimmerman told the judge in telephone testimony that she didn’t know how much money was in her husband’s PayPal account, “her testimony treads dangerously close” to perjury.

But, Coffey agrees that perjury cases can be difficult to prove, and in some cases, can even backfire on prosecutors.

“Perjury cases can be exercises in word splitting, comma by comma” Coffey says, adding that prosecutors would have to prove an intent to deceive the court. “If she’s able to offer an explanation for the falsity that’s not perjurious,” Mrs. Zimmerman could prevail.

“The other question is a policy one,” Coffey adds. “Angela Corey has been very aggressive in charging murder in cases were others might have charged manslaughter, and in opposing bond where others would negotiate a defendant’s release. So the question is whether she is now going to go after the wife, which could created a mixed reaction from the public. Some might say a loyal wife trying to protect her husband could be allowed some latitude. But others would say it goes to the heart of the justice system,” that people cannot be allowed to mislead the court and get away with it.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE