Information from the County Attorney's Office
By Steven J. Franzen, Campbell County Attorney
Kentucky law has many provisions concerning crimes relating to perjury and other false statements. I will attempt to briefly summarize these various provisions.
Under Kentucky law, a person is guilty of Perjury in the First Degree when he knowingly makes a material false statement under oath in any trial or other official proceedings. A person is also guilty of Perjury in the First Degree when he knowingly makes a material false written statement under oath with intent to mislead a public official in signing a warrant accusing a spouse of a sexual offense under Kentucky law. Perjury in the First Degree is a Class D Felony punishable by up to five (5) years in jail.
A person is guilty of Perjury in the Second Degree when knowingly makes a material false statement under oath in a written instrument with the intent to mislead a public servant in the performance of his official functions. This could include for instance signing a false affidavit under oath. Perjury in the Second Degree is a Class A Misdemeanor punishable by up to one (1) year in jail and up to a Five Hundred ($500.00) Dollar fine.
Under Kentucky law, a person is guilty of false swearing when he knowingly makes a false statement under oath in any proceeding. This is similar to the perjury statute except that the statement does not need to be material and does not need to be made with the intent to mislead. This provision would for instance cover lying under oath about matters that are not important and have no bearing on the outcome of a case. False swearing is a Class B Misdemeanor punishable by up to ninety (90) days in jail and up to a Two Hundred Fifty ($250.00) Dollar fine. If a person has made inconsistent statements and the prosecutor is not sure what is false, then a person can be charged with making inconsistent statements under oath and it is only necessary to prove that one of the statements had to be false.
In any prosecution for perjury or false swearing, it is necessary to have more than the contradictory testimony of a single witness in order to obtain a conviction. Moreover, if a person retracts a false statement during the proceedings in which it was made before the false statement substantially affects the proceeding and before it became apparent that its falsity was or would be exposed, then that person cannot be found guilty of the offenses discussed above.
Finally, Kentucky law prohibits making unsworn material false statements to authorities with intent to mislead a public servant in the performance of his duty. This statute also prohibits submitting forged instruments or false samples, specimens, maps or other objects. Unsworn falsification to authorities is a Class B Misdemeanor.
It is also a Class B Misdemeanor under Kentucky law to give a peace officer a false name and address after being warned by a officer that to give a false name or address is a criminal offense.
As is obvious from all the above noted laws covering this subject, telling the truth in all proceedings is very important from a criminal law aspect as well as from a moral point of view. It is very important that all people, especially our children, know the legal and moral obligations to tell the whole truth in contrast to the example set by some of our leaders.
If you have any topics you would like to have covered in this column, please contact my office by e-mail at countyattorney@campbellcountyky.org, by phone at 491-7700 or by regular mail addressed to 319 York Street, Newport, Kentucky 41071.