Title 46 — Criminal Justice

The net earnings of each inmate participating in the rehabilitative release program shall be forwarded to the Treasurer for deposit to the account of the inmate in a rehabilitative release account in the Territorial Treasury for the sole benefit of the inmate. Such wages may be d…

Wages and salaries earned through placement in the rehabilitative release program shall not be subject to garnishment, attachment, or execution in the hands of the employer or the Treasurer. History: 1999, PL 26-5

When determined by the Commissioner that the circumstances of a rehabilitative release program participant do not require the security of the territorial correctional facility, he may contract with private agencies for the custody and separate care of such places of custody. (a) …

Inmate residents of a halfway house are required to share the cost of the American Samoa Government contract on a basis to be determined by the Commissioner and clearly listed in the contractual agreement. (a) Payment of room and board shall be made by the inmate directly to the …

Any device attached to the person of an arrestee or convicted prisoner that is used in conjunction with a public telephone system that alerts authorities to the absence of the person from an assigned place of home arrest or other place of temporary release from the Territorial Co…

The use of electronic monitoring devices is hereby authorized for use of the court or the Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety under the following conditions. (a) When in the opinion of the court home arrest is a practical alternative to bail or pretrial confinement. (…

The Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety is hereby designated as the sole person responsible to purchase, control, attach and remove all electronic monitoring devices authorized by this chapter. The Commissioner is also empowered and directed to monitor all persons wea…

A person who has had attached to his person, pursuant to court order, or as a requirement of the territorial correctional facility rehabilitative release program, an electronic monitoring device, and who removes such device from his person, or who renders such device inoperative,…

If a treaty in effect between the United States and a foreign country provides for the transfer or exchange of convicted offenders to the country of which they are citizens or nationals, the Governor may, on behalf of the Territory and subject to the terms of the treaty, consent …

(a) There is created in the executive branch a board of parole, consisting of 5 members ap-pointed by the Governor, all of whom must be nonelected citizens of American Samoa not employed by the government. The board shall select one of its members to be the chairman. (b) The boar…

(a) A prisoner other than a juvenile delinquent or a committed youth offender, wherever confined, and serving a term or terms of over 6 months, who has served the minimum prison term under 46.2304 may apply to the board for parole. A prisoner whose application for parole is denie…

(a) If it appears to the board from a report by the proper institutional officers, or upon application by a prisoner eligible for release on parole, that there is a reasonable probability that the prisoner will live and remain at liberty without violating the law, and if in the o…

(a) Subject to the terms and conditions established by the board, a parolee may be allowed to return to his home or go elsewhere. The parolee remains in the legal custody and under the control of the attorney general. The parole continues until the expiration of the maximum term …

(a) When an alien prisoner subject to deportation becomes eligible for parole, the board may authorize his release on the condition that he be deported and remain outside American Samoa. (b) The prisoner, when his parole becomes effective, shall be delivered to the duly authorize…

(a) A warrant for the retaking of any American Samoan prisoner who has violated his parole may be issued only by the board of a member of it and within the maximum term or terms for which he was sentenced. (b) The unexpired term of imprisonment of that prisoner shall begin to run…

(a) Any person convicted of the following offenses, when the act was committed upon a victim who was a minor, or person under the age of 18 years at the time of commission, is required to register their name, identifying information, current residential address, and provide finge…

(a) Any person who is convicted for a second time for any of the offenses listed in 46.2801, regardless of when the prior qualifying conviction occurred and regardless of whether the prior conviction for an offense covered by this chapter resulted in registration in the jurisdict…

When the underlying conviction requiring a person to register under this act is reversed, vacated, or set aside, or if the registrant is pardoned, continuing registration is not required. History: 1999, PL 26-7.

(a) The Commissioner of Public Safety shall release offender registry information as necessary to protect the public of American Samoa. The Commissioner of Public Safety is responsible for developing and implementing a policy on the release of relevant offender information to the…

The provisions and standards of this act pertaining to registration and the penalties for failure to comply with registration requirements apply to residents of the Territory who are convicted in other states or territories of any of the covered offenses against victims who are m…

To further the implementation of this act, the Commissioner of Public Safety may promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with Administrative Procedures Act, A.S.C.A., Section 4.1001, et seq., but not inconsistent with this act. History: 1999, PL 26-7.

This title shall be known and may be cited as “The Criminal Justice Act of 1979”. History: 1979, PL 16-43 § 2.

(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 co…

(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 constitut…

No conduct constitutes an offense or an infraction unless made so by this title, other applicable statutes, or the Uniform Village Regulations. History: 1979, PL 16-43 § 2.

(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 t…

(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)…

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 o…

(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 …

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 …

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 def…

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” wh…

(a) A person is not guilty of an offense unless his liability is based on conduct which includes a voluntary act. (b) A “voluntary act” is: (1) a bodily movement performed while conscious as a result of effort or determination; or (2) an omission to perform an act of which the ac…

(a) Except under 46.3204, a person is not guilty of an offense unless he acts with a culpable mental state, that is, unless he acts purposely or knowingly or recklessly or with criminal negligence, as the statute defining the offense may require with respect to the conduct, the r…

(a) If the definition of an offense prescribes a culpable mental state but does not specify the conduct, attendant circumstances or result to which it applies, the prescribed culpable mental state applies to each material element unless a contrary purpose plainly appears. (b) Exc…

A culpable mental state is not required: (1) if the offense is an infraction and no culpable mental state is prescribed by the law defining the offense; or (2) if the statute defining the offense clearly indicates a purpose to dispense with the require-ment of any culpable mental…

(a) A person is not relieved of criminal liability for conduct because he engages in that conduct under a mistaken belief of fact or law unless that mistake negatives the existence of the mental state required by the offense. (b) A person is not relieved of criminal liability for…

A person with the required culpable mental state is guilty of an offense if it is committed by his own conduct or by the conduct of another person for which he is criminally responsible, or both. History: 1979, PL 16-43 § 2.

(a) A person is criminally responsible for the conduct of another when: (1) the statute defining the offense makes him responsible; or (2) either before or during the commission of an offense with the purpose of promoting the commission of an offense, he aids or agrees to aid or …

It is no defense to any prosecution for an offense in which the criminal responsibility of the defendant is based upon the conduct of another that: (1) the other person has been acquitted or has not been convicted or has been convicted of some other offense or degree of offense o…

Except as otherwise provided, when 2 or more persons are criminally responsible for an offense which is divided into degrees, each person is guilty of that degree as is compatible with his own culpable mental state and with his own accountability for an aggravating or mitigating …

(a) A corporation is guilty of an offense if: (1) the conduct constituting the offense consists of an omission to discharge a specific duty of affirmative performance imposed on corporations by law; (2) the conduct constituting the offense is engaged in by an agent of the corpora…

A person is criminally liable for conduct constituting an offense which he performs or causes to be performed in the name of or in behalf of a corporation or unincorporated association to the same extent as if the conduct were performed in his own name or behalf. History: 1979, P…

(a) The commission of acts which would otherwise constitute an offense is not criminal if the actor engaged in the prescribed conduct because he was entrapped by a law enforcement officer or a person acting in cooperation with such an officer. (b) An “entrapment” is perpetrated i…

(a) It is an affirmative defense that the defendant engaged in the conduct charged to constitute an offense because he was coerced to do so, by the use of or threatened imminent use of, unlawful physical force upon him or a 3d person, which force or threatened force a person of r…

(a) A person who is in an intoxicated or drugged condition whether from alcohol, drugs, or other substance, is criminally responsible for conduct unless that condition: (1) negatives the existence of the mental states of purpose or knowledge when those mental states are elements …

(a) Children under 10 years of age are conclusively presumed to be incapable of committing any crime. (b) Children between 10 and 14 years of age are conclusively presumed to be incapable of committing any crime, except for felonies, in which case the presumption is rebuttable. (…

(a) A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of the conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he did not know or appreciate the nature, quality, or wrongfulness of his conduct or was incapable of conforming his conduct to the requirements of law. (b) …

As used in this chapter: (a) “Deadly force” means physical force which the actor uses with the purpose of causing or which he knows to create a substantial risk of causing death or serious physical injury. (b) “Dwelling” means any building or inhabitable structure, whether perman…

The fact that conduct is justified under this chapter does not abolish nor impair any remedy for that conduct which is available in any civil action. History: 1979, PL 16-43 § 2.