No charges for woman who lied to police in murder investigation?

Submitted by no_brain_no_pain t3_11dtw1f in vermont

So good news about the solving of the 50-year old murder investigation. It must be a tremendous relief for the family. But the murderer's wife lied to police about his whereabouts that evening. No charges for her? She knew all this time and said nothing, knowing the family was suffering? I don't remember where, but I read in an article--someone was quoted as saying that it's not a crime to lie to police. There's no way that can be true! Isn't that accessory after-the-fact? Or is that just a thing on Law and Order?

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zombienutz1 t1_jaasrhr wrote

I saw that too. Pretty sure Murad said that.

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doctorchivago t1_jaawk02 wrote

Perhaps they don't want to punish individuals coming forward with info that breaks a case because they're afraid that if they do then people won't come forward. Just a thought but not sure

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obiwanjabroni420 t1_jaayrcv wrote

Even if it was a crime, it seems like it would be pretty easy for her to claim that she was afraid for her own life and lied to protect herself seeing as how she was living with a murderer. It would be a really hard charge to prosecute.

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BudsKind802 t1_jab1fsc wrote

I would assume statute of limitations has run out. It only doesn't apply to:

> Murder, arson causing death, kidnapping, and aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, human trafficking, aggravated human trafficking, and manslaughter have no statute of limitations in Vermont

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Status_Mechanic t1_jab1x9c wrote

Spousal privilege.... Is that just a TV/movie thing or not applicable here?

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WikiSummarizerBot t1_jac8wcr wrote

Replying to they_have_no_bullets (#2,099,583)

Spousal privilege

>In the common law, spousal privilege (also called marital privilege or husband-wife privilege) is a term used in the law of evidence to describe two separate privileges that apply to spouses: the spousal communications privilege and the spousal testimonial privilege.

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sixteenandseven t1_jaduyw3 wrote

False Information to a Police Officer (FIPO) is a misdemeanor with a 3 year statute of limitations. I think they're 47 years too late to charge that one.

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