Corruption charges are often brought against public officials, judges, and large corporations. Prosecutors seek to root out corruption in both the private and public sector, and they are aggressive about prosecuting these types of cases. When a person is charged with public or corporate corruption, they can face hefty fines, jail time, and a loss of reputation. In addition, a conviction can have collateral consequences, such as revocation of professional licenses or the forfeiture of assets.
Generally speaking, a corrupt transaction involves a quid pro quo—some form of exchange that benefits one party at the expense of another. Bribery, the most common type of corrupt charge, occurs when someone offers or accepts something of value in exchange for official action. The prosecutors who pursue these types of cases typically seek to tie the corruption back to some form of monetary gain.
The prosecutors in these cases also seek to convince the jury that the person who is accused of the crime intended to corruptly influence others. They may use circumstantial evidence, such as an unusually flashy lifestyle that is not directly linked to the receipt of a bribe, to make their case.
When it comes to witnesses in these cases, the defense attorney will work to reduce the probative value of the testimony of a witness who has been convicted of lying under oath previously. Fortunately, this does not have to rely on the discredited theory that a witness’s situation is free of influence, and it only needs to identify how the witness’s previous unpunished perjury has affected her willingness to be truthful in her current testimony.