OK for cops to lie? | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Re "Utah officials move to fire controversial trooper Lisa Steed" (Tribune, Nov. 8):

Why is it that Utah Highway Patrol Cpl. Lisa Steed has been found by two separate judges to be "untruthful" in her court testimony, which probably means committing perjury, and yet she is not charged with any crime?

Instead, the UHP still has her on the public payroll and only now has "begun the process of firing" her.

For any officer of the law to lie under oath in a court of law is an attack on the fundamentals of justice in our society and should be treated as a major crime. If you or I did this, we would be prosecuted for perjury, a felony.

Is there a whole different set of rules for police officers than for the rest of the citizens? Can the police just blatantly lie in court without consequences?

If this is the case, how can citizens have any faith in the justice system?

Tom Owens

Farmington