§ 210.20 Perjury; pleading and proof where inconsistent
statements involved.
Where a person has made two statements under oath which are
inconsistent to the degree that one of them is necessarily false,
where the circumstances are such that each statement, if false,
is perjuriously so, and where each statement was made within the
jurisdiction of this state and within the period of the statute
of limitations for the crime charged, the inability of the people
to establish specifically which of the two statements is the
false one does not preclude a prosecution for perjury, and such
prosecution may be conducted as follows:
1. The indictment or information may set forth the two
statements and, without designating either, charge that one of
them is false and perjuriously made.
2. The falsity of one or the other of the two statements may
be established by proof or a showing of their irreconcilable
inconsistency.
3. The highest degree of perjury of which the defendant may
be convicted is determined by hypothetically assuming each
statement to be false and perjurious. If under such
circumstances perjury of the same degree would be established by
the making of each statement, the defendant may be convicted of
that degree at most. If perjury of different degrees would be
established by the making of the two statements, the defendant
may be convicted of the lesser degree at most.