LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A Lincoln woman has entered a plea in a perjury case involving a custody fight over her young child.
Shannon M. Mick, 33, pleaded no contest to one count of perjury on Dec. 1, according to the Lake County District Attorney’s Office’s Perjury Intervention Unit.
The District Attorney’s Office said a Lake County resident filed an affidavit on June 3, 2015, requesting full legal and physical custody of his 3-year-old child, alleging that Mick – his ex-wife and mother of the child – had subjected the child to domestic violence from her boyfriend, Mike Alexander, as well as alcohol abuse.
It was alleged in the family law case that the environment was a danger to his minor child, the District Attorney’s Office reported.
The report said Mick vehemently denied such claims, and in an affidavit dated June 6, 2015, she declared under penalty of perjury, “I deny all allegations of abuse between Mike and I.”
She further testified in court under the penalty of perjury that there was no domestic violence in their home. However, there was substantial evidence presented by the father in the family law trial that supported his assertion of active domestic violence and alcohol abuse, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Officials said there was evidence at the trial from a Sutter County Sheriff’s deputy that documented an incident that took place on Jan. 21, 2015, in which Alexander allegedly took hold of Mick by her ankles and dragged her outside of the house and locked the door.
The report stated that Mick then ran to the home of her neighbor, who happened to be an off-duty police officer, and reported that she had been involved in a domestic violence incident with her boyfriend.
That report highlighted that Mick “appeared upset, intoxicated and presented the odor of alcoholic beverages.” The Sutter County Sheriff’s deputy also testified that there were other instances of domestic violence at the Mick/Alexander residence.
Additionally, the District Attorney’s Office said that during the trial Mick testified she had never seen the June 3, 2015, declaration and that she had not signed the document, contending her then attorney wrote the document and forged her name. However, forgetting about her prior testimony, she later admitted to drafting and signing the document.
Upon review of all of the evidence, the court ruled that, “there clearly was an incident of domestic violence that occurred at that time involving intoxication by alcohol.” The court further stated, “Ms. Mick, you and Mr. Alexander were not candid with the Court with respect to your declarations and your presentation at the time of the hearing … It appears that there have been, all things being considered, some level of deliberate falsehoods rendered by each Mr. Alexander and Respondent, mother (Shannon Mick).”
The Lake County District Attorney’s Office subsequently charged Mick with perjury, alleging that she both declared in written affidavits and testified under oath to material facts she knew to be false.
Deputy District Attorney Daniel Flesch, who handles all perjury cases, said that Mick pleaded no contest to one count of perjury.
Mick is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 29. The District Attorney’s Office said perjury carries a maximum sentence of four years in local prison.
Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson established the unit to take on the widespread problem of perjury that the courts face all the time.
The Lake County District Attorney’s Office has received national attention for its Perjury Intervention Unit, which is believed to be the only such unit in the United States.
Anderson said he’s hopeful that people will think twice before lying in court or in affidavits.
“We are committed to curtailing some of the falsehoods testified to in court in the criminal, civil and family law arena,” he said.
Woman enters plea in perjury case
- Lake County News reports
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