Benjamin's most likely reason for this "misdemeanor lie" is his inability to say no to a friend or colleague.
Explanation:
When there are certain situations where a person has to say no to another for a favor they need to be confident but it often fails to happen either due to social anxiety or due to not wanting to offend the other person by not helping them.
This sort of thing happens in a misdemeanor lie wherein the person lying knows that they will not be able to follow through on the thing they are promising to do.
However it would not be socially permissible for them to say no so they are saying yes despite knowing that they cannot fulfill their commitment.
