Title 37, Hawaii Penal Code

§702-204 State of mind required. Except as provided in section 702-212, a person is not guilty of an offense unless the person acted intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently, as the law specifies, with respect to each element of the offense. When the state of mind req…

§702-205 Elements of an offense. The elements of an offense are such (1) conduct, (2) attendant circumstances, and (3) results of conduct, as: (a) Are specified by the definition of the offense, and (b) Negative a defense (other than a defense based on the statute of limitations,…

§702-206 Definitions of states of mind. (1) "Intentionally." (a) A person acts intentionally with respect to his conduct when it is his conscious object to engage in such conduct. (b) A person acts intentionally with respect to attendant circumstances when he is aware of the exis…

§702-207 Specified state of mind applies to all elements. When the definition of an offense specifies the state of mind sufficient for the commission of that offense, without distinguishing among the elements thereof, the specified state of mind shall apply to all elements of the…

§702-208 Substitutes for negligence, recklessness, and knowledge. When the law provides that negligence is sufficient to establish an element of an offense, that element also is established if, with respect thereto, a person acts intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly. When the …

§702-209 Conditional intent. When a particular intent is necessary to establish an element of an offense, it is immaterial that such intent was conditional unless the condition negatives the harm or evil sought to be prevented by the law prohibiting the offense. [L 1972, c 9, pt …

§702-210 Requirement of wilfulness satisfied by acting knowingly. A requirement that an offense be committed wilfully is satisfied if a person acts knowingly with respect to the elements of the offense, unless a purpose to impose further requirements appears. [L 1972, c 9, pt of …

§702-211 State of mind as determinant of grade or class of a particular offense. When the grade or class of a particular offense depends on whether it is committed intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently, its grade or class shall be the lowest for which the determina…

§702-212 When state of mind requirements are inapplicable to violations and to crimes defined by statutes other than this Code. The state of mind requirements prescribed by sections 702-204 and 702-207 through 702-211 do not apply to: (1) An offense which constitutes a violation,…

§702-213 Effect of absolute liability in reducing grade of offense to violation. Notwithstanding any other provisions of existing law and unless a subsequent statute otherwise provides: (1) When absolute liability is imposed with respect to any element of an offense defined by a …

§702-214 Causal relationship between conduct and result. Conduct is the cause of a result when it is an antecedent but for which the result in question would not have occurred. [L 1972, c 9, pt of §1]

§702-215 Intentional or knowing causation; different result from that intended or contemplated. In the following instances intentionally or knowingly causing a particular result shall be deemed to be established even though the actual result caused by the defendant may not have b…

§702-216 Reckless or negligent causation; different result from that within the risk. In the following instances, recklessly or negligently causing a particular result shall be deemed to be established even though the actual result caused by the defendant may not have been within…

§702-217 Causation in offenses of absolute liability. When causing a particular result is an element of an offense for which absolute liability is imposed by law, the element is not established unless the actual result is a probable consequence of the defendant's conduct. [L 1972…

§702-218 Ignorance or mistake as a defense. In any prosecution for an offense, it is a defense that the accused engaged in the prohibited conduct under ignorance or mistake of fact if: (1) The ignorance or mistake negatives the state of mind required to establish an element of th…

§702-219 Ignorance or mistake; reduction in grade and class of the offense. Although ignorance or mistake would otherwise afford a defense to the offense charged, the defense is not available if the defendant would be guilty of another offense had the situation been as the defend…

§702-220 Ignorance or mistake of law; belief that conduct not legally prohibited. In any prosecution, it shall be an affirmative defense that the defendant engaged in the conduct or caused the result alleged under the belief that the conduct or result was not legally prohibited w…

§702-221 Liability for conduct of another. (1) A person is guilty of an offense if it is committed by his own conduct or by the conduct of another person for which he is legally accountable, or both. (2) A person is legally accountable for the conduct of another person when: (a) …

§702-222 Liability for conduct of another; complicity. A person is an accomplice of another person in the commission of an offense if: (1) With the intention of promoting or facilitating the commission of the offense, the person: (a) Solicits the other person to commit it; (b) Ai…

§702-223 Liability for conduct of another; complicity with respect to the result. When causing a particular result is an element of an offense, an accomplice in the conduct causing the result is an accomplice in the commission of that offense, if the accomplice acts, with respect…

§702-224 Liability for conduct of another; exemption from complicity. Unless otherwise provided by this Code or by the law defining the offense, a person is not an accomplice in an offense committed by another person if: (1) He is a victim of that offense; (2) The offense is so d…

§702-225 Liability for conduct of another; incapacity of defendant; failure to prosecute or convict or immunity of other person. In any prosecution for an offense in which the liability of the defendant is based on conduct of another person, it is no defense that: (1) The offense…

§702-226 Liability for conduct of another; multiple convictions; different degrees. When, pursuant to any section from section 702-221 through section 702-223, two or more persons are liable for an offense which is divided into degrees, each person is guilty of the degree of the …

§702-227 Penal liability of corporations and unincorporated associations. A corporation or unincorporated association is guilty of an offense when: (1) It omits to discharge a specific duty of affirmative performance imposed on corporations or unincorporated associations by law a…

§702-228 Liability of persons acting, or under a duty to act, in behalf of corporations or unincorporated associations. (1) A person is legally accountable for any conduct the person performs or causes to be performed in the name of a corporation or an unincorporated association …

§702-229 Definitions relating to corporations and unincorporated associations. As used in sections 702-227 and 702-228: "Agent" means any director, officer, servant, employee or other person authorized to act in behalf of the corporation or association and, in the case of an unin…

§702-230 Intoxication; self-induced; not self-induced; pathological; affirmative defense. [Repeal and reenactment on July 1, 2034. L 2024, c 243, §4.] (1) Self-induced intoxication is prohibited as a defense to any offense, except as specifically provided in this section. (2) Evi…

§702-231 Duress. (1) It is a defense to a penal charge that the defendant engaged in the conduct or caused the result alleged because he was coerced to do so by the use of, or a threat to use, unlawful force against his person or the person of another, which a person of reasonabl…

§702-232 Military orders. It is an affirmative defense to a penal charge that the defendant, in engaging in the conduct or causing the result alleged, which the defendant did not know to be unlawful, did no more than execute an order of the defendant's superior in the armed servi…

§702-233 Consent; general. In any prosecution, the victim's consent to the conduct alleged, or to the result thereof, is a defense if the consent negatives an element of the offense or precludes the infliction of the harm or evil sought to be prevented by the law defining the off…

§702-234 Consent to bodily injury. In any prosecution involving conduct which causes or threatens bodily injury, consent to such conduct or to the infliction of such injury is a defense if: (1) The conduct and the injury are reasonably foreseeable hazards of joint participation i…

§702-235 Ineffective consent. Unless otherwise provided by this Code or by the law defining the offense, consent does not constitute a defense if: (1) It is given by a person who is legally incompetent to authorize the conduct alleged; (2) It is given by a person who by reason of…

§702-236 De minimis infractions. (1) The court may dismiss a prosecution if, having regard to the nature of the conduct alleged and the nature of the attendant circumstances, it finds that the defendant's conduct: (a) Was within a customary license or tolerance, which was not exp…

§702-237 Entrapment. (1) In any prosecution, it is an affirmative defense that the defendant engaged in the prohibited conduct or caused the prohibited result because the defendant was induced or encouraged to do so by a law enforcement officer, or by a person acting in cooperati…