LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County District Attorney’s Perjury Investigation Unit has made another arrest, this time of a woman who falsely claimed she had been the victim of an assault.
On Wednesday members of the unit arrested Danee Kristine Patterson, 23, for two felony counts of perjury, one felony count of filing a false affidavit to the court and one misdemeanor count of making a false police report, District Attorney Don Anderson reported.
Anderson said the case came to the Perjury Investigation Unit as a result of a false report being made to the Clearlake Police Department by Patterson.
He said Patterson had reported that her employer, with whom she denied having any romantic relationship, had assaulted her.
An investigation by the Clearlake Police Department concluded she was in fact having a romantic relationship with her employer and that the assault never occurred. Anderson said Patterson admitted to the police that she had made up the story to gain advantage in a pending custody battle over their child.
In an application to obtain a restraining order and custody of their child, Patterson had filed with the court an affidavit alleging the assault by her employer, Anderson said.
Afterward, on May 12, 2016, despite admitting to the police the assault never happened, she testified in the family law trial that she never had a romantic relationship with her employer and that her employer had assaulted her, according to Anderson.
In a separate civil proceeding in on March 17, Anderson said Patterson again testified that she did not have a romantic relationship with her employer and that the employer had assaulted her.
During that court hearing an investigator with the District Attorney's Perjury Unit was in court monitoring the testimony, Anderson said.
Anderson said Patterson faces a maximum seven-year sentence for her perjured testimony if convicted.
Anderson established the Perjury Investigative Unit in June in an attempt to curb false testimony in criminal, civil and family law courts.
It’s believed to be the only district attorney’s office in the United States to establish a perjury unit with the specific intent to prosecute perjury cases.
The Lake County District Attorney’s Perjury Investigation Unit has been recognized for its work by agencies throughout the country including the American Bar Association and the California District Attorney's Association.
District Attorney’s Office Perjury Investigation Unit arrests woman who falsely claimed assault
- Lake County News reports
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