12.1-11-04. General provisions

12.1-11-04. General provisions 1. Falsification is material under sections 12.1-11-01, 12.1-11-02, and 12.1-11-03 regardless of the admissibility of the statement under rules of evidence, if it could have affected the course or outcome of the official proceeding or the disposition of the matter in which the statement is made. Whether a falsification is material in a given factual situation is a question of law. It is no defense that the declarant mistakenly believed the falsification to be immaterial. 2. It is no defense to a prosecution under sections 12.1-11-01 or 12.1-11-02 that the oath or affirmation was administered or taken in an irregular manner or that the declarant was not competent to make the statement. A document purporting to be made upon oath or affirmation at a time when the actor represents it as being so verified shall be deemed to have been duly sworn or affirmed. 3. It is a defense to a prosecution under sections 12.1-11-01, 12.1-11-02, or 12.1-11-03 that the actor retracted the falsification in the course of the official proceeding or matter in which it was made, if in fact he did so before it became manifest that the falsification was or would be exposed and before the falsification substantially affected the proceeding or the matter. 4. In sections 12.1-11-01 and 12.1-11-02, "statement" means any representation but includes a representation of opinion, belief, or other state of mind only if the representation clearly relates to state of mind apart from or in addition to any facts which are the subject of the representation.