Aggravated Perjury

From the Law Office of Alison Grinter in Dallas, Texas

Contents 1 Degree 2 Statute(s) 3 Caselaw 4 Collateral Consequences 5 Notes

Degree

Aggravated Perjury is a Third_degree_felony.

Statute(s)

§ 37.03. AGGRAVATED PERJURY.

(a) A person commits an offense if he commits perjury as defined in Section 37.02, and the false statement:
(1) is made during or in connection with an official proceeding; and
(2) is material.
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree.

Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 883, ch. 399, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974.
Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, § 1.01, eff. Sept. 1,
1994.

Caselaw

Collateral Consequences

Aggravated Perjury is a Crime_of_Moral_Turpitude

This offense is listed as a deportable offense for non-citizen residents.

Notes

The only difference between Perjury and Aggravated Perjury is whether the statement is material, which is to say, whether the statement was important to the case at hand. For instance, if Bob is charged with stealing his brother Kyle's car, and Bob's girlfriend Lisa testifies in Bob's defense, saying falsely that at the time of the theft, she and Bob were out of the country, then that false statement is material, because it can have an effect on the outcome of the case. If she were to testify falsely that the victim of the theft, Kyle, is Bob's cousin, not his brother, then that false statement might not be material, because it has nothing to do with whether Bob stole Kyle's car.

Materiality can be tricky, and it is a legal determination to be made by the judge considering all of the facts and circumstances of the case. It is no defense to Aggravated Perjury that the witness did not think the lie was material. But, it is important to note that if a witness retracts his or her false statement before the close of his or her testimony, or before the statement is discovered to be false, then the witness has a defense to the perjury (or aggravated perjury).

Discuss this offense with The Law Office of Alison Grinter