11 Sept 09 - Complaint of Felony Perjury Ignored by Tuscaloosa Sheriff's Office
A complaint of felony perjury was filed with the Tuscaloosa Sheriff's Department alleging that a custodial parent provided false testimony regarding the parties' children being in daycare. Clear and convincing evidence was provided to support this claim. These children stopped going to daycare four months prior to this testimony and haven't been back since. This resulted in a $180/mo increase in child support. The Sheriff's Office has refused to forward this case to the DA's office stating that it is a civil matter and that their job is not to help people with their domestic relations case.
What about the taxpayer?
Due to this crime, the taxpayer is unjustly paying $360 a month extra in Title IV-D money. If the non-custodial parent stopped paying child support, this same money would be used to prosecute the individual. A conflict of interest, I would say.
So far the taxpayer has unjustly paid $1140 in this case alone. I am sure there are probably a thousand similar cases around the state.
Is the taxpayer ever going to receive retribution for this crime?
Family law attorneys are well aware of this dilemma and that is why they encourage their clients to lie. Why not lie? There are no repercussions and you are more likely to win your case. This further illustrates why the ore tenus rule needs to be change to clear and convincing evidence. Unless we can get the general public aware of these issues, our voice will be nothing more than a whisper and there will be no justice.