California Penal Code 118 makes perjury a felony: knowingly making a false statement about a material fact while under oath, or while certifying a statement under penalty of perjury, is punishable by two, three, or four years in county jail. The statute reaches courtroom testimony, depositions, written declarations, and signed government forms alike. Because prosecutors must prove you deliberately lied about something that mattered to the proceeding, and because the law requires more than a single contradicting witness to prove it, the bar for conviction is higher than many people assume.
What the Statute Actually Prohibits
Penal Code 118(a) applies to anyone who has taken an oath to testify, declare, depose, or certify truthfully before any court, officer, or other person authorized to administer oaths in California, and who then willfully states as true something they know is false.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 118
Three elements have to line up:
- Willfulness. You deliberately lied. Misremembering, guessing wrong, or being confused is not perjury.
- Knowledge of falsity. You knew the statement was false when you made it. Claiming certainty about something you actually have no knowledge of also qualifies.
- Materiality. The lie had to matter to the proceeding.
Courts look at your state of mind at the moment you spoke or signed. Someone whose account shifts over months hasn’t committed perjury just because a later version doesn’t line up with an earlier one. The statute targets deliberate deception, not the ordinary drift of memory.
The section also has reach past state lines. A statement made or signed outside California still falls under PC 118 if it’s given under oath or certified under penalty of perjury for use in a California proceeding.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 118
It Isn’t Just Courtroom Testimony
Most perjury charges don’t involve the witness stand. California Code of Civil Procedure 2015.5 gives a written statement signed “under penalty of perjury” the same legal weight as sworn oral testimony.2California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2015.5 The signature line at the bottom of a court declaration, a tax return, a driver license application, or a proof of service is a legal oath. Lying on it is a felony under PC 118. Depositions given under oath to a court reporter fall under the statute too.
The declaration itself has to be formatted correctly. If signed in California, it needs the date, place of execution, and the statement “I certify (or declare) under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.” If signed outside California, it must add “under the laws of the State of California.”2California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2015.5
The Lie Has to Matter
An immaterial lie under oath is not perjury. A statement is material if it could have influenced the outcome of the proceeding. A witness who fabricates an alibi for a defendant in a theft trial is squarely in perjury territory because the lie goes to the central question. A witness who lies about what they had for breakfast that morning is not, unless breakfast somehow connects to the case.
The test asks about potential, not actual, influence. The jury may have seen through the lie entirely and the charge still holds if the false information was the kind that could have swayed the decision. Most questions asked under oath in a proceeding do relate to the matter at hand, which is why materiality is rarely the hardest hurdle for a prosecutor.
Why Single-Witness Cases Fail
Penal Code 118(b) builds in a safeguard that makes perjury harder to prove than most other crimes. No one can be convicted of perjury when the only proof of falsity comes from one witness contradicting the defendant. The prosecution needs either more than one witness, or independent evidence, direct or indirect, that the statement was knowingly false.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 118
The rule exists because perjury cases often come down to one person’s word against another’s. Without corroboration, any dispute between two witnesses could become a criminal case against whichever one a prosecutor believed less. In practice, perjury cases get built on documents, recordings, physical evidence, or multiple witnesses.
Penalties
Perjury is always a felony in California. There is no misdemeanor version. A conviction carries two, three, or four years under Penal Code 126, with three years as the presumptive middle term.3California Public Law. California Penal Code 126 The court moves up or down from three years based on aggravating or mitigating circumstances.
Because Section 126 sentences run through Penal Code 1170(h), the time is generally served in county jail rather than state prison under realignment.3California Public Law. California Penal Code 126 A fine of up to $10,000 per count can be added, which is the default felony cap under Penal Code 672 when the underlying statute doesn’t set its own amount.4California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 672
Prosecutors generally have three years from the date of the alleged perjury to file charges, the standard California felony limitations period.
What a Conviction Costs Beyond Sentencing
The jail term and fine are often the smaller part of the picture.
Firearms
Anyone convicted of a felony in California is barred from owning, buying, receiving, or possessing a firearm. Because perjury is always a felony, the ban attaches automatically.5California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29800 Violating the ban is itself a separate felony.
Professional Licensing
Perjury is widely treated as a crime of moral turpitude, which puts professional licenses at risk. Under California Business and Professions Code 490, a licensing board can suspend or revoke a license when the conviction is substantially related to the duties of the profession. For attorneys, doctors, nurses, accountants, and real estate agents, a conviction for lying under oath is about as substantially related as it gets. An order granting probation in place of a sentence still counts as a conviction for licensing purposes.6California Legislative Information. California Business and Professions Code 490
Immigration
For noncitizens, a perjury conviction is often the most damaging consequence. Because it qualifies as a crime involving moral turpitude, it can trigger both inadmissibility and deportability under federal law.
A single conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude generally makes a noncitizen inadmissible, blocking entry to the United States or adjustment of status. A narrow “petty offense” exception exists for crimes where the maximum possible sentence is one year or less and the actual sentence imposed was six months or less.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens California perjury carries a maximum of four years, so the exception does not apply.
A noncitizen can also be deported for a crime involving moral turpitude committed within five years of admission if the offense carries a potential sentence of one year or more. Two or more convictions for such crimes at any time after admission also trigger deportability.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens
Getting Someone Else to Lie: Subornation
You don’t have to be the one lying under oath to be charged. Penal Code 127 makes it a crime to willfully procure another person to commit perjury, and the punishment matches: two, three, or four years plus the potential $10,000 fine.9California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 127
Subornation requires proof you knew the testimony would be false and that you actively procured it. Simply asking someone to testify isn’t enough. And if the person you tried to influence ends up telling the truth, no subornation has occurred, whatever your intent was.
Defenses That Actually Work
Honest Belief
If you genuinely believed the statement was true when you made it, you didn’t commit perjury. This is the most common and often the most effective defense. Memory fades, perspectives differ, people get details wrong in good faith. Prosecutors have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you knew the statement was false at the moment you made it, which is a high bar when any plausible innocent explanation exists.
Literal Truth
A statement that is technically accurate but misleading is not perjury. The U.S. Supreme Court set out this principle in Bronston v. United States, holding that a literally true but evasive answer does not violate the federal perjury statute even if the witness intended to mislead.10Legal Information Institute. Bronston v. United States The Court put the burden on the questioner to pin the witness down with precise follow-up questions. California courts recognize the same general principle.
Lack of Corroboration
If the prosecution’s proof that you lied depends on one contradicting witness with nothing else behind it, the case fails as a matter of law under PC 118(b).1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 118 Defense attorneys often attack perjury charges on exactly this ground.
Immateriality
If the false statement couldn’t have affected the outcome of the proceeding, it isn’t perjury. A defense that shows the lie was about something genuinely irrelevant can get the charge dismissed. Whether this argument works is fact-specific and turns on what was actually in dispute.