New York State Law

Penal Law

Consolidated Laws of New York's Penal code

Article 210 - NY Penal Law

PERJURY AND RELATED OFFENSES

Section Offense Class
210.00 Perjury and related offenses; definitions of terms.  
210.05 Perjury in the third degree. A MISD
210.10 Perjury in the second degree. E FELONY
210.15 Perjury in the first degree. E FELONY
210.20 Perjury; pleading and proof where inconsistent statements involved.  
210.25 Perjury; defense.  
210.30 Perjury; no defense.  
210.35 Making an apparently sworn false statement in the second degree. A MISD
210.40 Making an apparently sworn false statement in the first degree. E FELONY
210.45 Making a punishable false written statement. A MISD
210.50 Perjury and related offenses; requirement of corroboration.  
S 210.00 Perjury and related offenses; definitions of terms.
  The following definitions are applicable to this article:
  1. "Oath" includes an affirmation and every other mode authorized by
law of attesting to the truth of that which is stated.
  2. "Swear" means to state under oath.
  3. "Testimony" means an oral statement made under oath in a proceeding
before any court, body, agency, public servant or other person
authorized by law to conduct such proceeding and to administer the oath
or cause it to be administered.
  4. "Oath required by law." An affidavit, deposition or other
subscribed written instrument is one for which an "oath is required by
law" when, absent an oath or swearing thereto, it does not or would not,
according to statute or appropriate regulatory provisions, have legal
efficacy in a court of law or before any public or governmental body,
agency or public servant to whom it is or might be submitted.
  5. "Swear falsely." A person "swears falsely" when he intentionally
makes a false statement which he does not believe to be true (a) while
giving testimony, or (b) under oath in a subscribed written instrument.
A false swearing in a subscribed written instrument shall not be deemed
complete until the instrument is delivered by its subscriber, or by
someone acting in his behalf, to another person with intent that it be
uttered or published as true.
  6. "Attesting officer" means any notary public or other person
authorized by law to administer oaths in connection with affidavits,
depositions and other subscribed written instruments, and to certify
that the subscriber of such an instrument has appeared before him and
has sworn to the truth of the contents thereof.
  7. "Jurat" means a clause wherein an attesting officer certifies,
among other matters, that the subscriber has appeared before him and
sworn to the truth of the contents thereof.

S 210.05 Perjury in the third degree.
  A person is guilty of perjury in the third degree when he swears
falsely.
  Perjury in the third degree is a class A misdemeanor.

S 210.10 Perjury in the second degree.
  A person is guilty of perjury in the second degree when he swears
falsely and when his false statement is (a) made in a subscribed written
instrument for which an oath is required by law, and (b) made with
intent to mislead a public servant in the performance of his official
functions, and (c) material to the action, proceeding or matter
involved.
  Perjury in the second degree is a class E felony.

S 210.15 Perjury in the first degree.
  A person is guilty of perjury in the first degree when he swears
falsely and when his false statement (a) consists of testimony, and (b)
is material to the action, proceeding or matter in which it is made.
  Perjury in the first degree is a class D felony.

S 210.20 Perjury; pleading and proof where inconsistent statements involved.
  Where a person has made two statements under oath which are
inconsistent to the degree that one of them is necessarily false, where
the circumstances are such that each statement, if false, is
perjuriously so, and where each statement was made within the
jurisdiction of this state and within the period of the statute of
limitations for the crime charged, the inability of the people to
establish specifically which of the two statements is the false one does
not preclude a prosecution for perjury, and such prosecution may be
conducted as follows:
  1. The indictment or information may set forth the two statements and,
without designating either, charge that one of them is false and
perjuriously made.
  2. The falsity of one or the other of the two statements may be
established by proof or a showing of their irreconcilable inconsistency.
  3. The highest degree of perjury of which the defendant may be
convicted is determined by hypothetically assuming each statement to be
false and perjurious. If under such circumstances perjury of the same
degree would be established by the making of each statement, the
defendant may be convicted of that degree at most. If perjury of
different degrees would be established by the making of the two
statements, the defendant may be convicted of the lesser degree at most.

S 210.25 Perjury; defense.
  In any prosecution for perjury, it is an affirmative defense that the
defendant retracted his false statement in the course of the proceeding
in which it was made before such false statement substantially affected
the proceeding and before it became manifest that its falsity was or
would be exposed.

S 210.30 Perjury; no defense.
  It is no defense to a prosecution for perjury that:
  1. The defendant was not competent to make the false statement
alleged; or
  2. The defendant mistakenly believed the false statement to be
immaterial; or
  3. The oath was administered or taken in an irregular manner or that
the authority or jurisdiction of the attesting officer who administered
the oath was defective, if such defect was excusable under any statute
or rule of law.

S 210.35 Making an apparently sworn false statement in the second degree.
  A person is guilty of making an apparently sworn false statement in
the second degree when (a) he subscribes a written instrument knowing
that it contains a statement which is in fact false and which he does
not believe to be true, and (b) he intends or believes that such
instrument will be uttered or delivered with a jurat affixed thereto,
and (c) such instrument is uttered or delivered with a jurat affixed
thereto.
  Making an apparently sworn false statement in the second degree is a
class A misdemeanor.

S 210.40 Making an apparently sworn false statement in the first degree.
  A person is guilty of making an apparently sworn false statement in
the first degree when he commits the crime of making an apparently sworn
false statement in the second degree, and when (a) the written
instrument involved is one for which an oath is required by law, and (b)
the false statement contained therein is made with intent to mislead a
public servant in the performance of his official functions, and (c)
such false statement is material to the action, proceeding or matter
involved.
  Making an apparently sworn false statement in the first degree is a
class E felony.

S 210.45 Making a punishable false written statement.
  A person is guilty of making a punishable false written statement when
he knowingly makes a false statement, which he does not believe to be
true, in a written instrument bearing a legally authorized form notice
to the effect that false statements made therein are punishable.
  Making a punishable false written statement is a class A misdemeanor.

S 210.50 Perjury and related offenses; requirement of corroboration.
  In any prosecution for perjury, except a prosecution based upon
inconsistent statements pursuant to section 210.20, or in any
prosecution for making an apparently sworn false statement, or making a
punishable false written statement, falsity of a statement may not be
established by the uncorroborated testimony of a single witness.

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