Perjury occurs when you deliberately lie in a legal proceeding after having taken an oath to tell the truth. Perjury requires that you lie about a “material matter,” which means it must be relevant to the case at hand. In other words, if you are on the witness stand testifying about the crime of larceny, and the lawyer asks you how much you weigh, and you fudge it a bit, then you haven’t committed perjury, unless your weight is relevant to the case.
Perjury can be committed in criminal cases, civil cases, or “in any case where an oath or affirmation is required by law . . . .” This would cover lying on an affidavit or sworn statement given to law enforcement. In order to be convicted of perjury, two witnesses must testify to the truth of matter about which you swore falsely, or at least one witness must testify, along with corroborating circumstances.
The penalties for perjury can be severe. If you are convicted of perjury for lying on the trial of any capital or felony offense, you can be imprisoned for not less than ten years. In any other case, you can be imprisoned for a term of no more than ten years.
It is also a crime to “suborn” perjury, which means to get someone else to lie for you in a case, matter, or proceeding. Subornation of perjury can get you imprisoned for a term of up to ten years as well.
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