Background
Lori Milliron testified before a federal grand jury investigating the murder of her paramour Larry Rudolph’s wife. Rudolph had murdered his wife in Zambia and staged the death as an accident to collect life insurance. Milliron was indicted for perjury, accessory after the fact to foreign murder, and obstruction of justice based on her grand jury testimony. She was convicted on two perjury counts, the accessory count, and the obstruction count.
The court’s reasoning
The court applied the standard from Bronston v. United States, which requires precise questioning to predicate a perjury offense. The court found that for Count Six, the prosecutor’s questions were imprecise and the evidence did not support a finding that Milliron knowingly made false statements regarding why Rudolph gave her money. The court affirmed the other convictions as supported by sufficient evidence.
Precise questioning is imperative as a predicate to the offense of perjury.
Bronston v. United States, 409 U.S. 352, 362 (1973)
What it means going forward
Prosecutors must ensure questions in grand jury proceedings are precise enough to establish the specific intent required for perjury convictions.