Chapter 31 - General Provisions




Chapter 31 - General Provisions















46.3101 Short title.



This title shall be known and may be cited as "The Criminal Justice Act of 1979".










46.3102 Classes of crimes.



(a) An offense defined by this title or by any other statute of this Territory for which a sentence of death or imprisonment is authorized, constitutes a "crime". Crimes are classified as felonies and misdemeanors.
(b) A crime is a "felony" if it is so designated or if persons convicted of it may be sentenced to death or imprisonment for a term which is in excess of one year.
(c) A crime is a "misdemeanor" if it is so designated or if persons convicted of it may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of which the maximum is one year or less.













46.3103 Infractions.



(a) An offense defined by this title or by any other statute of this Territory constitutes an "infraction" if it is so designated or if no other sentence than a fine, or fine and forfeiture or other civil penalty is authorized upon conviction.
(b) An infraction does not constitute a crime, and conviction of an infraction does not give rise to any disability or legal disadvantage based on conviction of a crime.













46.3104 Offenses and infractions must be defined by statute.



No conduct constitutes an offense or an infraction unless made so by this title, other applicable statutes, or the Uniform Village Regulations.













46.3105 Application to offenses committed before and after enactment.



(a) The provisions of this title govern the construction and punishment for any offense defined in this title and committed after 31 December 1979, as well as the construction and application of any defense to a prosecution for that offense.
(b) Offenses defined outside of this title and not specifically repealed remain in effect.
(c) The provisions of this title do not apply to or govern the construction of and punishment for any offense committed prior to 1 January 1980 or the construction and application of any defense to a prosecution for that offense. The offense must be construed and punished according to the provisions of law existing at the time of its commission in the same manner as if this title had not been enacted.













46.3106 Time limitations.



(a) A prosecution for any class A felony may be commenced at any time.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, prosecutions for other offenses must be commenced within the following periods of limitation:
(1) for any felony, 3 years;
(2) for any misdemeanor, 1 year;
(3) for any infraction, 6 months.
(c) If the period prescribed in subsection (b) has expired, a prosecution may nevertheless be commenced for:
(1) any offense a material element of which is either fraud or a breach of fiduciary obligation within 1 year after discovery of the offense by an aggrieved party or by a person who has a legal duty to represent an aggrieved party and who is himself not a party to the offense, but in no case shall this provision extend the period of limitation by more than 3 years; and
(2) any offense based upon misconduct in office by a public officer or employee at any time when the defendant is in public office or employment or within 2 years thereafter but in no case shall this provision extend the period of limitation by more than 3 years.
(d) An offense is committed either when every element occurs, or, if a legislative purpose to prohibit a continuing course of conduct plainly appears, at the time when the course of conduct or the defendant's complicity in it is terminated. Time starts to run on the day after the offense is committed.
(e) A prosecution is commenced and is pending either when a criminal complaint or an information is filed.
(f) The period of limitation does not run:
(1) during anytime when the accused is absent from the territory but in no case does this provision extend the period of limitation otherwise applicable by more than 3 years; or
(2) during any time when the accused is concealing himself from justice either within or outside this territory; or
(3) during any time when a prosecution against the accused for the offense is pending in this territory.













46.3107 Limitation on conviction for multiple offenses.



When the same conduct of a person may establish the commission of more than 1 offense, he may be prosecuted for each offense. He may not, however, be convicted of more than 1 offense if:
(1) 1 offense is included in the other, as defined in 46.3108; or
(2) inconsistent findings of fact are required to establish the commission of the offenses; or
(3) the offenses differ only in that one is defined to prohibit a designated kind of conduct generally and the other to prohibit a specific instance of conduct; or
(4) the offense is defined as a continuing course of conduct and the person's course of conduct was uninterrupted unless the law provides that specific periods of that conduct constitute separate offenses.













46.3108 Conviction of included offenses.



(a) A defendant may be convicted of an offense included in an offense charged in the indictment or information. An offense is so included when:
(1) it is established by proof of it or less than all the facts required to establish the com-mission of the offense charged; or
(2) it is specifically denominated by statute as a lesser degree of the offense charged; or
(3) it consists of an attempt to commit the offense charged or to commit an offense otherwise included in it.
(b) The court is not to be obligated to charge the jury with respect to an included offense unless there is a basis for a verdict acquitting the defendant of the offense charged and con-victing him of the included offense.













46.3109 Burden of injecting the issue.



When the phrase "the defendant has the burden of injecting the issue" is used in this title it means:
(1) the defense referred to is not submitted to the trier of fact unless supported by some evidence; and
(2) if the issue is submitted to the trier of fact, any reasonable doubt on the issue requires a finding for the defendant on that issue.













46.3110 Affirmative defense.



When the phrase "affirmative defense" is used in this title, it means:
(1) the defense referred to is not submitted to the trier of fact unless supported by evidence; and
(2) if the defense is submitted to the trier of fact, the defendant has the burden of persuasion that the defense is more probably true than not.













46.3111 Definitions.



In this title, unless the context requires a different definition, the following shall apply:
(1) "Affirmative defense" has the meaning specified in 46.3110.
(2) "Burden of injecting the issue" has the meaning specified in 46.3109.
(3) Confinement: a person is in "confinement" when he is held in a place of confinement pursuant to arrest or order of a court, and remains in confinement until:
(A) a court orders his release; or
(B) he is released on bail, bond, or recognizance, personal or otherwise; or
(C) a public servant having the legal power and duty to confine him authorizes his release without guard and without condition that he return to confinement;
(D) a person is not in confinement if:
(i) he is on probation or parole, temporary or otherwise; or
(ii) he is under sentence to serve a term of confinement which is not continuous or is serving a sentence under a work-release program and in either case is not being held in a place of confinement or is not being held under guard by a person having the legal power and duty to transport him to or from a place of confinement.
(4) Consent or lack of consent may be expressed or implied. Assent does not constitute consent if:
(A) it is given by a person who is legally incompetent to authorize the conduct charged to constitute the offense and the incompetence is manifest or known to the actor; or
(B) it is given by a person who by reason of youth, mental disease or defect, or intoxication, is manifestly unable or known by the actor to be unable to make a reasonable judgment as to the nature or harmfulness of the conduct charged to constitute the offense; or
(C) it is induced by force, duress or deception.
(5) "Criminal negligence" has the meaning specified in 46.3202.
(6) Custody: a person is in "custody" when he has been arrested but has not been delivered to a place of confinement.
(7) "Dangerous instrument" means any instrument, article, or substance which, under the circumstances in which it is used, is readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury.
(8) "Dangerous felony" means the felonies of murder, forcible rape, assault, robbery, kidnapping, or the attempt to commit any of these felonies.
(9) "Deadly weapon" means any firearm, loaded or unloaded, or any weapon from which a shot, readily capable of producing death or serious physical injury may be discharged; or switchblade knife, dagger, billy, blackjack, metal knuckles: or rock, bottle or other missile.
(10) "Felony" has the meaning specified in 46.3102.
(11) "Forcible compulsion" means either:
(A) physical force that overcomes reasonable resistance; or
(B) a threat, express or implied, that places a person in reasonable fear of death, serious physical injury or kidnapping of himself or another person.
(12) "Incapacitated" means that physical or mental condition, temporary or permanent, in which a person is unconscious, unable to appraise the nature of his conduct, or unable to communicate unwillingness to an act. A person is not "incapacitated" with respect to an act committed upon him if he became unconscious, unable to appraise the nature of his conduct or unable to communicate unwillingness to an act, after consenting to the act.
(13) "Inhabitable structure" has the meaning specified in 46.4001.
(14) "Infraction" has the meaning specified in 46.3103.
(15) "Knowingly" has the meaning specified in 46.3202.
(16) "Law enforcement officer" means any public servant having the authority to make arrests for violations of the laws of this territory.
(17) "Misdemeanor" has the meaning specified in 46.3102.
(18) "Offense" has the meaning specified in 46.3102.
(19) "Physical injury" means physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition.
(20) "Place of confinement" means any building or facility and its grounds wherein a court is legally authorized to order that a person charged with or convicted of a crime be held.
(21) "Public servant" means any person employed in any way by the government of this territory who is compensated by the government by reason of his employment. It includes, but is not limited to, legislators, jurors, members of the judiciary and law enforcement officers. It does not include witnesses.
(22) "Purposely" has the meaning specified in 46.3202.
(23) "Recklessly" has the meaning specified in 46.3202.
(24) "Serious physical injury" means physical injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes serious permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.
(25) "Unlawfully" means without justification or excuse.
(26) "Voluntary act" has the meaning specified in 46.3201.