re·cant (r
-k
nt
)
v. re·cant·ed, re·cant·ing, re·cants
v.tr.
To make a formal retraction or disavowal of (a statement or belief to which one has previously committed oneself).
v.intr.
To make a formal retraction or disavowal of a previously held statement or belief.
Why would a person recant their testimony?
- Fabricated crimes. False convictions in sex abuse cases are usually due to fabricated crimes; all too often it stems from a person trying to protect themselves from "judgment" and deflecting responsibility for their own actions, or police/ prosecution convince an unwilling witness to say something that wasn't true. This is almost always coupled with a legal "threat" of subpoena to get the fabricated testimony. (See - Coercion )
- Misconduct by authorities. For homicides, misconduct by authorities was the second-biggest cause of false convictions, just behind false eyewitness accounts.
Eyewitnesses are crucial to a trial, experts say, and their mistakes, whether intentional or not, can have a huge impact.
"The bulk of the evidence that is presented in trials is human testimony. Almost all of the time, energy, and effort is spent hearing people's statement in what occurred at a different place and a different time," Dan Simon, a professor of law and psychology at USC, said. "The bottom line is, people are often inaccurate."
Recanting testimony
I testified at a trial and I wish to recant my statement, what do I need to do? I was coerced to testify and my testimony was false, I did not testify to a crime committed, I lied about an event that happened and about knowing the person on trial, basically I misidentified them. I just want to tell the truth.
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