Embedded Files
(13)01. Mistake of Fact
A person who commits an offense but claims, and can display proof, that they acted on the honestly held belief they were not violating the law or did not understand the law that was violated.
This can only negate an offense if the offense requires mens rea, meaning a willful intention, knowing, or understanding that they are committing a crime.
In any other cases, it may reduce the punishment for an offense at the discretion of the peace officer, or a judge when in a criminal suit.
(13)02. Involuntary Intoxication
A person found to be involuntarily intoxicated, meaning they were evidently drugged or had their awareness impaired against their will or knowledge, cannot be found guilty of an offense as they did not have the adequate state of mind to do so.
(13)03. Private Defense, Self Defense, Castle Doctrine, And Defense Of Others
A person who has a reasonable belief that they, or another, are in imminent danger of being killed, seriously injured or unlawfully touched and believe that imminent force is needed to prevent that danger and use no more force than is necessary to negate that danger will absolved of criminal liability in Title 1. Crimes Against the Person. ALL these requirements must be met to be completely absolved of criminal liability.
If not all requirements are met, charges may instead be reduced to up to half the minimum sentence for relevant offenses at the discretion of the peace officer or a judge.
This also applies in the case of a person who is protecting their home from imminent danger or robbery when on private property.
This defense cannot be applied in cases of gang on gang violence or in other such instances where the party claiming the defense was put at risk of immediate danger by their own involvement with actionable criminality.
(13)04. Necessity
A person who commits an offense out of necessity to protect themselves or others from significant bodily harm or emergency, has no adequate legal alternative, did not create a greater danger through their actions and held an actual and reasonable belief that their action was necessary to prevent harm, will be absolved of criminal liability for the offense deemed to be committed as a necessity to prevent greater harm.
This defense cannot be applied in cases of gang on gang violence or in other such instances where the party claiming the defense was put at risk of immediate danger by their own involvement with actionable criminality.
(13)05. Entrapment
A person who would not have committed an offense if not for for the harassment, threats, or coercion to do so by members of law enforcement cannot be found guilty of the offense that they were persuaded to commit.
(13)06. Duress
A person who commits any offense in response to immediate threats to kill from a third party and does so in order to negate those threats cannot be found to have had the required criminal intent with which to be held liable for an offense.
The only exception to this are severe crimes against the person, such as torture, murder, and attempted murder, as it is not justifiable to take or severely harm another life unless in an act of self defense.
(13)07. Parole Exclusions
A person who is guilty of (1)10. Torture, (1)07. Kidnapping, (1)03. Attempted Murder with the Government Worker Clause, (1)08. Murder, (1)06. Manslaughter and (4)20. Violation of Parole Or Probation shall be always excluded from any opportunity of parole.
(13)08. Suspicion Policy
A peace officer's or court's justifiable suspicion of a person to commit or conspire to commit a crime is sufficient to allow that individual to be detained for questioning for no more than 30 minutes in police or court custody, however they cannot be searched beyond a legal Terry Frisk for the officer’s safety unless probable cause or concurrent evidence emerges.
A person who is at the scene of a crime, riot, or major public disturbance may also be classified under the suspicion policy for temporary detainment.
Violation of this policy, or an act of justifiable suspicion that extends beyond legal bounds, extends beyond Color of Law and is satisfactory for suit.
A person who fails to identify themselves to a peace officer during arrest or arraignment shall be imprisoned for the maximum time allowed by the law until they can be successfully identified by a peace officer or the courts.
(13)09. Officer Discretion
Law enforcement officers shall have the authority to use their discretion when issuing infractions or select misdemeanors. This discretion entitles the officer to choose to forego an infraction or misdemeanor penalty based on their personal judgement.
Officers must choose to issue Officer Discretion and forego charging, not issue a fine or other punishment in lieu of the typical punishment.
Officers cannot elect Officer Discretion if the independent victim, property owner, or affected party chooses to press charges on the perpetrator.
Double Jeopardy still applies, meaning a senior officer cannot revoke Officer Discretion once it is issued unless it was issued in disregard for a party wishing to press charges.
All misdemeanors that fall under Officer Discretion shall state as such in the sentencing portion of the charge.
(13)10. Good Samaritan Clause
Citizens may perform a legal Citizen’s Arrest when an individual has committed a misdemeanor or greater offense and the citizen wishes to restrain the individual until proper authorities can arrive to support, assist, or assess the situation.
Citizens may, at the request of the government worker, may give their assistance with carrying out official government business, so long as it doesn’t extend beyond the powers, duties, responsibilities, and authorities of that government worker.
Citizens may come to the aid of a government worker who is in duress or incapacitated during official government business to save or protect their life or assist informing official agents.
(13)11. Imprisonment & Punishment Criteria
Only criminal violations that originate from the San Andreas Penal Code may carry a misdemeanor or felony-level punishment with imprisonment in a county or state penitentiary.
All felonies must carry with their punishment imprisonment at the San Andreas State Correctional Facility.
All persons convicted of felony will carry their sentence at the San Andreas State Correctional Facility. All persons convicted of misdemeanor will carry their sentence at the appropriate county facility. All persons convicted will be imprisoned at the location of Officer Discretion.
Each penal code entry may include a range of time for imprisonment. While some entries dictate instances where the maximum or minimum time of imprisonment must be used, in all other instances the peace officer issuing the arrest may use their discretion, based on severity, cooperativeness of the suspect, or other criteria to decide the time within
The LSPD may set internal policies to dictate how officers should follow Imprisonment & Punishment Criteria, so long as it does not violate the minimum and maximum punishment policies stated in this Penal Code.
Each bullet number in a penal code entry refers to an applicable charge for each entry. Violating any one of the descriptions is a violation of the penal code entry.
So long as no exceptions are stated in the penal code entry, charges can be stacked for additional imprisonment. See (10)00. Exception for details.
((Persons who roleplay without a sound mind will still, in any case, be arrested and charged for the crime they commit. Technically they’d be delivered to an appropriate institution in-character but are dropped off to the local county or state jail before being sent there. They may and would not be placed with the regular prison population.))
NOTES:
For example, Murder carries a maximum punishment when it is committed against a government employee. PD cannot tell officers to ignore that maximum punishment policy, but can tell its officers to mandate a minimum sentence otherwise, etc. Anything within the minimum and maximum time ranges stated are fair game otherwise.
There may be medical services, mental health centers, etc. but either way there’s no way to get out of your imprisonment because of your character type, even if it seems unethical to meet this expectation of the game experience.
(13)12. Maximum Imprisonment
A person cannot be imprisoned for longer than 10 minutes (600 seconds) despite the number of charges on this individual exceeding a 10 minute penalty, unless said sentence is approved by a Justice of the Courts of San Andreas, or by the Governor of San Andreas.
A person who cannot be effectively identified shall be imprisoned for 10 minutes until they can be properly identified or they fulfill the 10 minute imprisonment. If they are identified, the total time served will be deducted from the time due, with immediate release if they fulfilled more than the total time.
A person released with more time spent in prison than their charges yield is not subject to excessive or wrongful imprisonment .
(13)13. Wiretapping, CCTV & Videotaping Policy
The State of San Andreas shall have a one-party notification policy for wiretapping without appropriate surveillance warrants and authorizations.
A person who is found to violate these wiretapping laws can be charged with (13)10. Wiretapping Violation Moles, bugs, and other illegal surveillance falls under wiretapping laws and violations / policies.
Government Employees may be recorded by civilians at all times when conducting their duties in an official capacity or when on-duty.
((CCTV is considered reasonably accessible to the courts when sourced from inside and around all public facilities, from police dashcams, or when subpoenaed by a private business that claims to have CCTV cameras installed. Public CCTVs cannot be tampered, modified, stolen, or destroyed.))
((CCTVs in businesses must be explicitly recorded as existing on paperwork or a license to be used in court or accepted legally.))
NOTES:
So long as one party (either person on the phone, in a facility, or other location where a conversation or event is being recorded) is aware of the situation it is considered a legal recording. Property owners always have full surveillance rights to their property and facilities, parking lots, etc. they maintain.
(13)14. Police Exigency & Hot Pursuit Policy
Peace officers have the authority to follow suspects into private property if directly related to an ongoing pursuit. Entry related to investigations or other projects not in a direct pursuit of a suspect require a warrant.
Peace officers have the authority to enter the public area of a private facility, such as the public area of a club or restaurant, at all times the facility is open to the public. Private areas of the facility require permission of the facility manager or a warrant.
12.15 Probable Cause & Plain View still applies when an officer is entering a facility for hot pursuit or entering the public area of a private facility.
NOTES:
This includes multiple rooms where a suspect could reasonably have ran to, such as several apartments within an apartment complex.
(13)15. Probable Cause & Plain View Policy
Peace officers have the power to seize and record evidence upon any event that is in their plain view so long as they have a legal reason to be where they’re located at the time.
A person who gives a government employee permission to view or access a facility, equipment or other areas is permitting an officer to view a facility for probable cause or plain view evidence.
Probable Cause does not have a specific definition, but refers to the ongoing premise that an officer’s “gut feeling” supported by plain view evidence (such as the smell of marijuana or other items) that would imply a probable situation of criminality and authorize a search based on that evidence. Probable Cause can be circumstantially contested in a court of law.
San Andreas State Parks Rangers have the authority to search persons and vehicles inside or near the state parks that they believe to be carrying animals for the purposes of checking bag limits of hunted or caught animals or items that can be used for an activity that results in a breach of law or park regulations.
NOTES:
Plain View applies even when an officer is in hot pursuit and enters, for example, an apartment complex and sees a clear criminal act in progress while chasing someone. They can call in other units to seize and handle that situation too.
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