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Materiality Requirement

12 October, 2015 - 14:52

Perjury generally requires a false statement that is material, which means that it substantially affected or could substantially affect the outcome of the proceeding.  1 In many jurisdictions and federally, materiality is a question of fact for the trier of fact, which could be a jury2 The Model Penal Code defines materiality as a statement that could have affected the course or outcome of the proceeding and declares that materiality should be a question of law, which means it should be determined by a judge, not a jury (Model Penal Code § 241.1(2)). Typically, it is not a defense to perjury that the defendant did not know that the statement was material.  3 The Model Penal Code has a similar provision (Model Penal Code § 241.1(2)).