บทความกฎThe issue is what a lawyer must do when he learns that defense witness testimony presented in a criminal matter is false.
Under the Rules of Professional Conduct, a lawyer has a duty of candor to the tribunal. This duty requires the lawyer to take steps to rectify any testimony offered that the lawyer knows is false. Such steps are mandatory under the rules, and "steps to rectify" may even require disclosure of the perjury to the Court. In addition, the lawyer may disclose (permissive) testimony that she reasonably believes is false, except in the case of a criminal defendant. A criminal defendant has the right to take the stand in his own defense, and the lawyer may not disclose her reasonable belief that such testimony is false (but still must disclose if she knows it's false). Note that this duty may even trump the lawyer's duty of confidentiality to his client. Here, Ben, a witness for the defense, testified as to his recollections of Vicki's shooting.
However, David told Lawyer that he knew Ben was out of town that day and thus was lying on the stand. Lawyer independently verified that Ben was in fact away at the time of the shooting. Thus, Lawyer knew at that moment that Ben's testimony was false and was under a mandatory obligation to rectify the fraud. Lawyer could have called Ben back to the stand to impeach his testimony, or he could have disclosed the fraud to the judge. David's communications to the Lawyer about Ben's whereabouts are protected under confidentiality, but Lawyer may break confidentiality if, and to the extent, necessary to rectify the fraud against the tribunal. In this case, Lawyer would probably not need to break confidentiality because Lawyer was able to confirm Ben's whereabouts. It would be sufficient to bring up outside evidence about Ben's vacation-- travel confirmations, etc., without disclosing confidential information.หมาย