Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes > Chapter 523 - Perjury and Related Offenses

• 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.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Material false statement: means any false statement, regardless of its admissibility under the rules of evidence which could have affected the outcome of the proceeding. See Kentucky Statutes 523.010
• Oath: means an affirmation or other legally authorized manner of attesting to the truth of a statement. See Kentucky Statutes 523.010
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Official proceeding: means a proceeding heard before any legislative, judicial, administrative or other governmental agency or official authorized to hear evidence under oath, including any referee, hearing examiner, commissioner, notary or other person taking testimony or depositions in any such proceedings. See Kentucky Statutes 523.010
• Public servant: means :
  (a) Any public officer or employee of the state or of any political subdivision thereof or of any governmental instrumentality within the state. See Kentucky Statutes 523.010
• State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes territories, outlying possessions, and the District of Columbia. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
• Statement: means any representation, but includes a representation of opinion, belief or other state of mind only if the representation clearly relates to state of mind apart from or in addition to any facts which are the subject of the representation. See Kentucky Statutes 523.010
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Sworn: includes "affirmed" in all cases in which an affirmation may be substituted for an oath. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.