Legal Question in Criminal Law in Mississippi

Re: Requirements to recant a statement

You need competent legal counsel NOW! It is not too late to "recant" but the DA probably will think you are lying now to take the heat for a friend when you think you probably will be found guilty for the offense anyway and they will probably try to use the statement against the other person whether you claim it was false or not. They will let the Jury determine if you are telling the truth now or if you were telling the truth then. You need competent counsel now to help prevent you from being charged with either (1) Perjury (for lying now to cover up the statement previously made, as if it was true when made) or (2) filing a false statement (by recanting its truth now) thus you need to protect yourself from both the possibility of new charges arising out of the false statement or you will need

counsel to assist in your effort to avoid being charged with making the false statement in the first place. If you made the original statement under oath you could be charged with perjury if you try to recant it now. A good lawyer will need to know why you waited until the last minute to try to change your fact recitation for law enforcement. Finally, you will need to know if you are being tried in separate trials or in one joint trial, as your options relevant to testifying in those situations are very different and you have some key exposure in a joint trial if you testify that the original statement was untrue now.

Good Luck!