Page:1973 North Dakota Session Laws.pdf/244

244 e. Uses a trick, scheme, or device which he knows to be misleading in a material respect.

3. This section does not apply to information given during the course of an investigation into possible commission of an offense unless the information is given in an official proceeding or the declarant is otherwise under a legal duty to give the information. Inapplicability under this subsection is a defense.

4. A matter is a "governmental matter" if it is within the jurisdiction of a government office or agency, or of an office, agency, or other establishment in the legislative or the judicial branch of government.

12.1-11-03. FALSE REPORTS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS OR SECURITY OFFICIALS.) A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if he:

1. Gives false information to a law enforcement officer with intent to falsely implicate another; or

2. Falsely reports to a law enforcement officer or other security official the occurrence of a crime of violence or other incident calling for an emergency response when he knows that the incident did not occur. Security official" means a public servant responsible for averting or dealing with emergencies involving public safety.

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 state ment 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,