Sec. 1. 17-A MRSA §451, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1975, c. 499, §1, is amended to read:

2. Whether a statement is material is a question of law to be determined by the court. In a prosecution under subsection 1, paragraph B, it need not be alleged or proved which of the statements is false but only that one or the other was false and not believed by the defendant person to be true.

SUMMARY

This bill removes the current directive that the trial court rather than the jury determine the materiality question. Since "materiality" is an element of the crime of perjury as legally defined, a defendant has the constitutional right to have the jury rather than the trial court determine the question of materiality. United States v. Gaudin, 515 U.S. 506 (1995).