Attorney's Note

Under the New Jersey Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
crime of the third degreebetween 3 and 5 yearsup to $15,000
For details, see N.J. Rev. Stat.2C:43-6

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Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 2C:28-1

  • Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • oath: includes "affirmation. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
  • person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • sworn: includes "affirmed. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
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.