2C:28-1.
Perjury
a. Offense defined. A person is guilty of
perjury, a crime of the third degree, if in any official proceeding he
makes a false statement under oath or equivalent affirmation, or
swears or affirms the truth of a statement previously made, when the
statement is material and he does not believe it to be true.
b. Materiality.
Falsification is material, regardless of the admissibility of the
statement under rules of evidence, if it could have affected the
course or outcome of the proceeding or the disposition of the matter.
It is no defense that the declarant mistakenly believed the
falsification to be immaterial. Whether a falsification is
material is a question of law.
c. Irregularities no defense.
It is not a defense to prosecution under this section that the
oath or affirmation was administered or taken in an irregular
manner. A document purporting to be made upon oath or
affirmation at any time when the actor presents it as being so
verified shall be deemed to have been duly sworn or affirmed.
d. Retraction.
It is an affirmative defense under this section that the actor
retracted the falsification in the course of the proceeding or matter
in which it was made prior to the termination of the proceeding or
matter without having caused irreparable harm to any party.
e. Corroboration.
No person shall be convicted of an offense under this section where
proof of falsity rests solely upon contradiction by testimony of a
single person other than the defendant.
L.1978, c. 95, s. 2C:28-1, eff. Sept. 1,
1979. Amended by L.1979, c. 178, s. 54, eff. Sept. 1, 1979.
Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey
as a Criminal Trial Attorney
