False Testimony Law and Legal Definition
False Testimony means untrue testimony. Testimony will be false if it was untrue when it was given and known to be untrue by the witness or person giving it. A statement contained within a document is false if it was untrue when used and known to be untrue by the person using it. If there was ambiguity in a question or capable of being understood in two different ways, and the person truthfully answered one reasonable interpretation of the question under the circumstances presented, then such answer would not be false. Similarly, if the question was clear but the answer was ambiguous, and one reasonable interpretation of the answer would be truthful, then the answer would not be false. This term is broader than perjury, which has a state-of-mind element. Unlike perjury, false testimony does not denote a crime. False testimony is also termed false evidence.
