COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2830
(By Delegates Trump, Fleischauer,
and Buchanan)
(Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary)
[April 2, 1997]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections one, two and three, article
five, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
revising the definitions of perjury, subornation of perjury
and false swearing and increasing the penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections one, two and three, article five, chapter sixty- one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty- one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC JUSTICE.
§61-5-1. Perjury and subornation of perjury defined.
(a) Any person who is under an oath or affirmation which has
been lawfully administered and who willfully testifies falsely
regarding a material matter in a trial of any person, corporation or other legal entity for a felony, or before any grand jury which is considering a felony indictment, shall be guilty of the felony
offense of perjury.
(b) Any person who induces or procures another person to
testify falsely regarding a material matter in a trial of any
person, corporation or other legal entity for a felony, or before
any grand jury which is considering a felony indictment, shall be
guilty of the felony offense of subornation of perjury.
(c) Any person who is under oath or affirmation who willfully
testifies falsely or who induces or procures another person to
testify falsely regarding a material matter in a divorce or child
custody proceeding before a family law master or judge which may
have has
the effect of depriving another person of parental rights
shall be guilty of the felony offense of perjury or of subornation
of perjury.
§61-5-2. False swearing defined.
To wilfully swear falsely, under oath or affirmation lawfully
administered, in a trial or divorce or child custody proceeding of
the witness or any other person for a felony, concerning a matter
or thing not material, and on any occasion other than a trial for
a felony, concerning any matter or thing material or not material,
or to procure another person to do so, is false swearing and is a
misdemeanor.
§61-5-3. Penalties for perjury, subornation of perjury, and false
swearing.
A person convicted of perjury or subordination of perjury
shall be confined in the penitentiary committed to the custody of
the department of corrections for not less than one nor more than
ten years, and a person convicted of false swearing shall be fined
not more than one five thousand dollars, and, in the discretion of
the court, confined in jail not more than one year. And in either
case the person convicted shall be adjudged forever incapable of
holding any office of honor, trust or profit in this state, or of
serving as a juror, or may have his or her parental rights
terminated as a result of such perjury, subornation of perjury or
false swearing..
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to include in the definitions of
perjury, subornation of perjury and false swearing the offense of
false allegations in divorce or child custody proceedings.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the
present law, and underscoring indicate new language that would be
added.