They brought 4,318 perjury prosecutions in 1997.

But perjury prosecutions for testimony given in legislative settings are not common.

Even if he did, legal experts said, those sorts of abstract characterizations cannot support a perjury prosecution.

"A government witness whose false testimony at a prominent trial rose to the level of warranting a perjury prosecution."

And, normally, a perjury prosecution may not rest on the testimony of a single witness.

There is not much that is safe from a perjury prosecution if mere "minimization" qualifies for the offense.

But this requirement is even more stringent for perjury prosecutions.

However, a defendant shown to be willfully ignorant may in fact be eligible for perjury prosecution.

Several commission members have said that testimony at its hearings might be turned over to the Manhattan District Attorney's office for possible perjury prosecution.

Those who had maintained during their trials that they were innocent also face possible perjury prosecutions after belatedly acknowledging their guilt.