Collins v. State

Citations

• 33 Fla. 446

Syllabus

<p>Perjury—statute construed—oath taken falsely must be authorized OR REQUIRED BY LAW.</p> <p>•One of the vital essentials of the crime of perjury under Section 5, p. 371 McClellan’s Digest, that proyides: ‘'Whoever, being-authorized or required by law to take an oath or affirmation, wilfully swears or affirms falsely in regard to any material matter or thing respecting which such oath or affirmation is authorized or required, shall be deemed guilty of perjury,” etc., is that, the oath or affirmation, alleged to have been taken falsely, must be one that is authorized or required by law to be taken under the circumstances or for the purposes for which it is taken. The taking of a mere voluntary or extra-judicial oath that is nowhere either authorized or required by any law to be taken for the purposes or under the circumstances in which it is taken, is not perjury under this statute though .never so falsely and wilfully taken.</p>