False Statements, Perjury, and False Reporting Defense
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Which Lies Are Crimes in New York, and Which Are Not
New York does not have a statute that makes lying a crime. It has a set of narrow statutes that each criminalize a specific kind of false statement in a specific setting: under oath, in a signed statement bearing a warning, to a 911 operator, to an officer asking your name. Most people charged under them did not set out to commit perjury. They signed a supporting deposition an officer wrote, told a version of a domestic incident that the other side later contradicted, called in a report they wanted to walk back, or gave a wrong name at a traffic stop. Which statute applies, and whether the facts actually fit it, decides whether there is a case at all.
Attorney Andrew DeLuca defends perjury, false written statement, false reporting, and impersonation charges in the courts of Saratoga, Warren, Washington, Fulton, and Montgomery Counties. Charges involving false business records and documents filed with government offices are covered on our white collar crimes page.
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Perjury: Three Degrees, One Definition of Swearing Falsely
Under Penal Law 210.00, a person swears falsely when they intentionally make a false statement they do not believe to be true, either in testimony (an oral statement under oath in a proceeding) or under oath in a subscribed written instrument. Perjury is a specific-intent crime: a mistaken or careless statement is not perjury. The degrees turn on the setting and on materiality.
- Perjury 3rd (210.05), class A misdemeanor: swearing falsely, in any sworn statement, material or not.
- Perjury 2nd (210.10), class E felony: a false statement in a subscribed written instrument for which an oath is required by law, made with intent to mislead a public servant, and material to the matter.
- Perjury 1st (210.15), class D felony: false testimony under oath, in court, before a grand jury, or at a deposition or hearing, that is material.
Two companion sections close a gap. Making an apparently sworn false statement (210.35, class A misdemeanor; 210.40, class E felony) covers a false signed instrument delivered with a notary’s jurat affixed when no oath was actually administered. And under Penal Law 210.30 it is no defense that you were not competent to make the statement, that you mistakenly believed it was immaterial, or that the oath was irregular in an excusable way.
Two provisions favor the defense. Under Penal Law 210.50, in any prosecution for perjury, an apparently sworn false statement, or a punishable false written statement, falsity may not be established by the uncorroborated testimony of a single witness. And under Penal Law 210.25, it is an affirmative defense to perjury that the defendant retracted the false statement in the course of the same proceeding, before it substantially affected the proceeding and before it became manifest that its falsity would be exposed.
The Signed Statement: Penal Law 210.45
The false statement charge seen most often in local courts is making a punishable false written statement, Penal Law 210.45, a class A misdemeanor. It applies to a knowingly false statement in a written instrument bearing a legally authorized form notice that false statements are punishable. That is the boxed warning printed at the bottom of police supporting depositions, sworn statements taken at the station, DMV applications, and many benefit and permit forms. No oath, no notary, and no materiality are required; a signature under the notice is enough. Under CPL 100.30 that same notice is what turns a statement into a legally verified accusatory instrument, so the person who signs a deposition written by an officer, and later says it was inaccurate or that they were pressured, is the person who gets charged under 210.45. Whether the statement was actually false, and whether the signer knew it, is where these cases are fought, and the 210.50 corroboration rule applies to them.
Falsely Reporting an Incident: 240.50 to 240.60
Penal Law 240.50, a class A misdemeanor, reaches four things done while knowing the information is false or baseless: circulating a false report of a crime, catastrophe, or emergency likely to cause public alarm; reporting a catastrophe or emergency to an emergency agency; gratuitously reporting to police an offense that did not occur, an offense that is not about to occur, or false information about a real offense or who was involved in it; and knowingly false reports to the child abuse or vulnerable persons registers. The word “gratuitously” in the police-report subdivision is an element: the statute targets volunteered reports, not answers under questioning. Second degree (240.55, class E felony) is a false report of a fire, explosion, or hazardous substance release. First degree (240.60, class D felony) applies to those reports when directed at a school, stadium, mall, or public building, when a responder is seriously injured or killed, when an emergency vehicle crashes responding, or after a prior conviction. The 2020 law addressing race-based 911 calls created a civil remedy in the Civil Rights Law, not a separate crime; bills to add a felony version have not passed.
False Personation and Criminal Impersonation
Giving a police or peace officer a false name, date of birth, or address, after being informed of the consequences, with intent to keep the officer from learning it, is false personation under Penal Law 190.23, a class B misdemeanor. Without the warning, and for any other fact, the section does not apply. Criminal impersonation in the second degree (190.25, class A misdemeanor) covers impersonating another person or a representative of an organization and acting in that character to obtain a benefit or defraud, pretending to be a public servant to induce reliance, doing either online, or using another person’s electronic signature. It becomes first degree (190.26, class E felony) only when someone pretends to be a police officer and commits or attempts a felony in the course of the pretense, or phones in a prescription while pretending to be a physician. Impersonating an officer alone is the misdemeanor.
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Lying to the Police Without a Signature or an Oath
An oral, unsworn lie to an officer is not itself a crime in New York. Prosecutors sometimes reach for obstructing governmental administration under Penal Law 195.05, but that statute requires intimidation, physical force or interference, or an independently unlawful act, and the Court of Appeals held in People v. Case that the interference must be physical and that mere words alone do not support the charge. Denying involvement, giving a misleading account during questioning, or refusing to answer is not chargeable unless it fits one of the specific statutes above: a false name after a warning, a volunteered false report, or a signed statement under the form notice. That line is where many false statement cases are won.
Sentencing
- Class B misdemeanor (false personation): up to 3 months in jail, a $500 fine, or one year of probation
- Class A misdemeanor (perjury 3rd, 210.45, falsely reporting 3rd, criminal impersonation 2nd, obstructing): up to 364 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or probation of two or three years
- Class E felony (perjury 2nd, falsely reporting 2nd, criminal impersonation 1st): indeterminate sentence up to 4 years, or a definite local jail term of a year or less, or probation of three to five years
- Class D felony (perjury 1st, falsely reporting 1st): indeterminate sentence up to 7 years, with the same alternatives
None of these offenses involves force, and none is a violent felony. A false statement on a DMV application is separately a misdemeanor under Vehicle and Traffic Law 392, usually charged alongside 210.45.
The Consequences That Outlast the Sentence
A conviction for any crime, including a misdemeanor, is professional misconduct under Education Law 6509(5) for nurses, accountants, and the other professions licensed by the State Education Department, and a dishonesty conviction is the kind licensing boards weigh most heavily. For a non-citizen, perjury and false statement offenses are commonly treated as crimes involving moral turpitude, and a perjury conviction with a sentence of a year or more is an aggravated felony under federal law; because a New York misdemeanor carries at most 364 days, that threshold is reached only on a felony sentence. Immigration counsel should be involved before any plea. Sealing routes are on our record sealing page.
How False Statement Cases Are Defended
- Which statute, exactly. Every one of these offenses has an element the facts often miss: a legally authorized form notice, an actual oath, a warning before the false name, a report that was volunteered rather than elicited. If the element is missing, so is the crime.
- Falsity and knowledge. The State must prove the statement was false and that you knew it. A statement that was incomplete, mistaken, or written by an officer in words you did not choose is not a knowing falsehood.
- Corroboration. Under 210.50 a perjury or 210.45 case cannot rest on one witness saying the statement was false. When the “proof” is the other party to a domestic incident, that rule is often decisive.
- Retraction. For perjury, a timely retraction in the same proceeding is a complete defense under 210.25.
- The context. Many false reporting charges arise from a report the person tried to withdraw, a mental health crisis, or a domestic situation where the original report was true and the recantation is what the State calls false. The disposition in those cases is negotiated with the whole history in view.
False Statement Cases in Saratoga County and the Capital Region
These charges are heard in the local courts where the statement was made: Saratoga Springs City Court, Glens Falls City Court, Amsterdam City Court, and the town and village courts across Saratoga, Warren, Washington, Fulton, and Montgomery Counties; felony perjury and false reporting cases go to county court. Related pages: White Collar Crimes, Domestic Violence, Criminal Contempt, and What Happens After an Arrest.
Frequently Asked Questions
False Statement and Perjury Questions
If you have been asked to sign a statement, or have been charged over one you already signed, call before you say anything else: 518-245-9109
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