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State Penal Code — General Provisions

These provisions govern how every offense in the San Andreas Penal Code is classified, charged, stacked, and sentenced.

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Offense Classifications

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Classification Standard

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Core Legal Definitions

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Intentionally

A person acts intentionally when it is their conscious objective to engage in the prohibited conduct or cause the prohibited result.

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Knowingly

A person acts knowingly when they are aware that their conduct is of the prohibited nature or that the required circumstance exists. Deliberate avoidance of an obvious fact may be considered when supported by the evidence.

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Recklessly

A person acts recklessly when they consciously disregard a substantial and unjustifiable risk and that disregard represents a serious departure from reasonable conduct under the circumstances.

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Criminal Negligence

Criminal negligence requires more than an ordinary mistake. The person must fail to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk under circumstances where that failure represents a serious departure from reasonable care.

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Possession

Possession may be actual or constructive. Constructive possession requires knowledge of the item and the ability and intent to exercise control over it. Mere proximity to another person’s property is insufficient by itself.

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Deadly Weapon

A deadly weapon includes a firearm and any weapon, vehicle, object, instrument, or device used or intended to be used in a manner capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.

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Serious Bodily Injury

Serious bodily injury means an injury creating a substantial risk of death, permanent or prolonged impairment, significant disfigurement, loss of bodily function, or another comparably serious physical injury.

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Public Servant

A public servant includes a peace officer, correctional officer, firefighter, EMS worker, judge, prosecutor, and another government employee or official specifically protected by the applicable statute while acting within lawful official duties.

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Probable Cause

Probable cause exists when the known facts and reasonably reliable circumstances would lead a reasonable person to believe that the suspect committed the specific offense being charged. It is more than a hunch but less than proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

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Enforcement Method

Offense classification and enforcement method are separate concepts.

• Cite & Release Eligible means an officer may ordinarily issue the charge without custodial booking when identification is confirmed and no other lawful reason requires custody.
• Cite & Release: No means custodial processing is the normal enforcement method.
• An otherwise citation-eligible offense may still result in custody when another custodial offense, active warrant, inability to identify, continued danger, refusal to cease the offense, or another lawful basis exists.

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Required Charging Standard

An officer should charge an offense only when the known facts establish probable cause for every material element of that offense. The officer should be able to answer:

1. What did the person do?
2. What required intent or mental state is supported?
3. What victim, property, weapon, quantity, location, or circumstance makes this specific statute apply?
4. Is there a more specific or aggravated statute that replaces the general offense?
5. Would another proposed charge punish the exact same act or element twice?

Mere presence, association, reputation, prior history, or suspicion is not a substitute for the elements of the current offense.

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Stacking & Merger Rules

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Separate Acts

Separate criminal acts may be charged separately even when they occur during one incident.

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Separate Victims

A separate victim may support a separate count when the statute protects an individual person and the elements are independently satisfied as to that victim.

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Lesser-Included Offenses

A lesser offense does not stack with the greater or aggravated version when both charges rely on the same act. Examples:

• Aggravated Battery replaces Battery for the same injury.
• Armed Robbery replaces Robbery for the same taking.
• Reckless Evading replaces Evading for the same uninterrupted pursuit.
• Armed Carjacking replaces Carjacking for the same taking.

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Attempts

An attempt requires both:

1. Specific intent to commit the target offense; and
2. A direct and substantial step beyond mere preparation.

Attempt does not stack with the completed target offense for the same act and victim.

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Aiding, Accessory Liability & Mere Presence

A person is not criminally liable merely because they are present, know an offender, belong to the same group, or fail to stop another person. Accomplice liability requires knowing and intentional assistance that actually furthers the offense.

• Assistance before or during the crime is governed by Aiding and Abetting or a specific accessory statute.
• Assistance after a completed felony for the purpose of avoiding apprehension is Accessory After the Fact.
• A specific accessory statute controls over the general Aiding and Abetting statute.

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Conspiracy

Conspiracy requires an actual agreement to commit a felony and an overt act in furtherance of that agreement. Mere discussion, association, or presence is insufficient.

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Possession & Distribution

For one continuous possession episode:

• Aggregate the same controlled substance into the applicable quantity tier rather than charging one count per package.
• Possession with Intent to Distribute replaces simple possession for the same quantity.
• An actual sale may be charged separately from independently retained inventory, but not by relabeling the exact same transferred quantity as multiple possession offenses.

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Enhancements

An enhancement may never be charged without a qualifying underlying offense. The same aggravating fact should not be counted twice when it is already an element of the aggravated offense. For example, the firearm required for Armed Robbery should not automatically create an additional Criminal Use of Weapon count.

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Fines

The fine listed on an individual statute is the standard fine for that offense. Courts may modify fines when authorized by law based on aggravating or mitigating circumstances. Restitution, forfeiture, and repayment are separate from a criminal fine and may be ordered where appropriate.

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Jail Sentences

The jail value listed on an offense is the standard sentence used by the MDT for routine charging and booking. A court may impose another lawful sentence when exercising judicial sentencing authority. Officers should not manually enhance a sentence simply because they believe the conduct was especially bad unless the Penal Code provides an applicable aggravated offense or enhancement.

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Community Service

The community_service value attached to eligible offenses is a suggested task amount, not an automatic additional punishment. Community service is most appropriate for lower-level, nonviolent offenses and may be imposed instead of or as part of another lawful sentence when authorized. Serious violent felonies ordinarily do not carry an automatic community-service recommendation.

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Probation

Probation is a court-ordered period of supervised or conditional release that may be imposed instead of some or all incarceration when permitted by the Judiciary. General eligibility:

• Class C, B, and A Misdemeanors — ordinarily eligible.
• Class C Felonies — ordinarily eligible at judicial discretion.
• Class B Felonies — available where the court finds community supervision appropriate.
• Class A Felonies — limited and normally requires substantial mitigating circumstances.
• Class X Felonies — exceptional only.

Common conditions may include remaining law-abiding, reporting requirements, weapons restrictions, no-contact orders, restitution, treatment, employment requirements, or other lawful conditions.

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Parole

Parole is supervised release after a person has served a custodial sentence. Parole eligibility is determined by the Judiciary or corrections process and is not automatically created by the number stored on an individual Penal Code row. A parolee must comply with all lawful parole conditions. A new misdemeanor or felony charge, absconding, prohibited weapon possession, or another material violation may support revocation proceedings.

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License Points

The SQL field strike_weight is used in this rebuild as license / traffic points, not as a criminal three-strikes system. Points apply primarily to traffic, aviation, and maritime operation offenses. Criminal recidivist or “three strikes” consequences should be tracked separately if implemented later.

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Criminal Strikes

The Penal Code does not currently assign automatic criminal strikes through strike_weight. If a three-strikes system is later adopted, it should use a dedicated field so license points cannot be mistaken for violent-felony strikes.

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Statute of Limitations

The limitation period begins when the offense is completed unless a specific statute or court ruling provides otherwise. A timely filed criminal case or warrant may preserve prosecution as provided by court procedure. Class X Felonies carry no general statute of limitations.

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Warrant Expiration

Warrant expiration is governed by the grade of the underlying offense unless the issuing judge orders a different lawful duration. Expiration of an arrest warrant does not by itself erase an offense when the applicable statute of limitations remains open.

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Judicial Discretion

Nothing in these general provisions authorizes an officer to create a charge, sentence enhancement, or exception not found in the Penal Code. Questions involving ambiguous statutes, unusual stacking, major enhancements, or extraordinary sentences should be referred to a prosecutor or the Judiciary when practical.