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Federal- False Declaration

Statute
18 USC 1623. False declarations before grand jury or court

(a) Whoever under oath (or in any declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28, United States Code) in any proceeding before or ancillary to any court or grand jury of the United States knowingly makes any false material declaration or makes or uses any other information, including any book, paper, document, record, recording, or other material, knowing the same to contain any false material declaration, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

Jury Instruction
The Defendant can be found guilty of that offense only if all of the following facts are proved beyond a reasonable doubt:

  1. That testimony was given or the described record or document was used while the Defendant was under oath as a witness before the Grand Jury of this Court, as charged;
  2. That such testimony or such record or document was false in one or more of the ways charged concerning some material matter in the Grand Jury proceedings; and
  3. That such false testimony or false record or document was knowingly and willfully given or used by the Defendant as charged.

Testimony is false if it was untrue when it was given and was then known to be untrue by the witness or person giving it. A statement contained within a document is false if it was untrue when used and was then known to be untrue by the person using it.

The making of a false statement or the use of a false document is not an offense unless the falsity relates to a “material” fact. A misrepresentation is “material” if it has a natural tendency to affect or influence, or is capable of affecting or influencing, the exercise of the Grand Jury’s decision making process. The test is whether the false statement had the capacity to impair or pervert the functioning of the Grand Jury. In other words, a misrepresentation is material if it relates to an important fact as distinguished from some unimportant or trivial detail. It is not necessary for the Government to prove however, that the Grand Jury was in fact influenced in any way by the false statement, record, or document.