Title 5 — Judicial Procedure

Each Territorial Public Defender, including the Chief Territorial Public Defender, shall receive in full compensation for his services an amount to be determined by the Territorial Public Defender Administration Board; Provided, however, That the salary of a Territorial Public De…

(a) When representing an indigent client in a criminal proceeding before the Superior Court, the Public Defender shall counsel and defend such client at every stage of the proceedings against him, and at any appeals or other remedies before or after conviction that he considers t…

The Chief Territorial Public Defender is authorized and directed to annually survey all federal prisons which house prisoners incarcerated for the conviction of the violation of a criminal statute of the Virgin Islands, to determine if such facility has available to its prisoners…

The Chief Territorial Public Defender shall make an annual report to all members of the Board. The report shall contain a brief summary of all cases handled by the Office of the Territorial Public Defender during the preceding year.

Each Public Defender shall devote his full time to the discharge of his duties as such and shall not directly or indirectly engage in the private practice of law, nor shall he directly or indirectly refer any legal matter or civil or criminal litigation to any particular lawyer o…

(a) To aid the Superior Court in determining the ability or inability of a person accused of an offense under section 3503 of this title, to retain his own counsel before such person is referred to the Office of the Territorial Public Defender, he or his parent, guardian or custo…

Any person who submits to a court a materially false financial statement for the purpose of obtaining legal assistance at public expense shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $100 or by imprisonment for not more than thirty (30) days.

(a) There is established, the Office of Conflict Counsel (“Office”). The Office is established within the judicial branch of the Government of the Virgin Islands for the purpose of representing indigent criminal defendants in cases where the Office of the Territorial Public Defen…

(a) The Committee shall hire a Chief Conflict Counsel who is licensed to practice law in the Virgin Islands. The Chief Conflict Counsel is responsible for administering the Office. The Office must be staffed with attorneys, licensed to practice law in the Virgin Islands, and secr…

(a) The Office may contract with private attorneys or law firms to provide representation to clients to which the Office has been appointed, and with investigators or investigative firms for the provision of investigative services. (b) The Office shall only contract with attorney…

(a) The Office shall provide legal representation only in cases where a court has determined that the Office of the Territorial Public Defender has a conflict. (b) The Office shall represent clients consistent with the requirements of 5 V.I.C. § 3524 (a). (c) The Chief Conflict C…

(a) If a conflict of interest exists, the Office may request withdrawal from the case in accordance with the procedure and limitations set forth in 5 V.I.C. § 3524 (c). (b) If the Office of the Territorial Public Defender and the Office of Conflict Counsel have both been granted …

(a) The Judicial Branch Administrative Office shall establish one or more separate accounts for the deposit of funds allotted to the Office of Conflict Counsel. The funds shall be expended exclusively for the operating expenses of the Office, as authorized by the Committee. The f…

(a) A criminal action shall be commenced within the following periods:(1) For murder, felony child abuse, felony child neglect, any felony sexual offense perpetrated against a victim, human trafficking, embezzlement of public moneys, and the falsification of public records, there…

(a) A peace officer is any inspector employed by the Taxicab Commission, marshal, deputy marshal, qualified probation officer of the Superior Court and Waste Management Authority Enforcement Officers, enforcement officer or Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Natural R…

(1) A peace officer may make an arrest in obedience to a warrant delivered to him, or may, without a warrant, arrest a person—(1) for a public offense committed or attempted in his presence;(2) when a person has committed a felony, although not in his presence;(3) when a felony h…

(1) A private person may arrest another —(1) for a public offense committed or attempted in his presence;(2) when the person arrested has committed a felony, although not in his presence; or(3) when a felony has been in fact committed, and he has reasonable cause for believing th…

A judge may orally order a peace officer or private person to arrest anyone committing or attempting to commit a public offense in the presence of such judge.

(a) An arrest is taking a person into custody, in a case and in the manner authorized by law. An arrest is made by actual restraint of the person of the defendant or by his submission to the custody of an officer. The defendant must not be subjected to any more restraint than is …

(a) When the arrest is being made by an officer under the authority of a warrant, after information of the intention to make the arrest, if the person to be arrested either flees or forcibly resists, the officer may use all necessary means to effect the arrest. (b) To make an arr…

(1) When an officer is making an arrest or has advised a suspect of the officer’s intent to make an arrest, if the suspect flees by motor vehicle, the officer may not discharge a firearm at the moving vehicle except in cases when:(1) the suspect is immediately threatening the off…

An appearance ticket is a written notice issued and subscribed by a peace officer authorized to issue an appearance ticket, directing a designated person to appear in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands at a future date in connection with his alleged commission of a misdemea…

(a) Peace officers designated in title 5 Virgin Islands Code section 3561 may issue appearance tickets for misdemeanor offenses committed or attempted in their presence. (b) Peace officers authorized pursuant to title 5 Virgin Islands Code section 3562 to arrest a person without …

(a) An appearance ticket must be made returnable in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands. (b) An appearance ticket must be served personally at the time the offense is committed or attempted to be committed.

(a) At or before the time the appearance ticket is returnable, the Attorney General shall file with the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands a complaint charging the person named in the appearance ticket with the offense specified therein, consistent with Superior Court Rule 123(…

If after the service of an appearance ticket and the filing of the complaint charging the offense designated therein, the defendant does not appear in the Superior Court at the time the appearance ticket is returnable, the court may issue a summons or a warrant of arrest based on…

Upon the arraignment of a defendant who has not been arrested and whose court appearance has been secured by the issuance and service of an appearance ticket, the court must direct that the defendant be fingerprinted by the appropriate police officer or agency and that he appear …

(a) Every felony and every criminal action in the district court shall be prosecuted by information. (b) Except in cases where the United States attorney has requested commitment to the district court upon a preliminary hearing under section 73 of Title 4, an information need not…

Under section 26 of the Revised Organic Act, approved July 22, 1954, in any criminal case originating in the district court, no person shall be denied the right to trial by jury if he demands it. If no jury is demanded the case shall be tried by the judge of the district court wi…

The trial jury in criminal actions shall consist of twelve persons, unless the parties consent to a lesser number, except as provided in Title 4, section 40 of this Code. The trial jury shall be drawn by lot by the clerk from a trial jury box containing the names of those who hav…

(a) In criminal actions the parties shall be entitled to peremptory challenges to the extent authorized by Rule 24(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. (b) All challenges for cause or favor, whether to the array or panel or to individual jurors, shall be determined by t…

As soon as the trial jury in a criminal action has been selected, an oath or affirmation shall be administered to the jurors to the effect that they and each of them will well and truly try the matter in issue, and a true verdict given according to the law and the evidence.

(1) After the jury is impaneled and sworn, the trial shall proceed in the following order:(1) the United States attorney may state the case of the prosecution, and may briefly state the evidence by which he expects to sustain it;(2) the defendant, or his counsel, may then state h…

The provisions of sections 353 and 354 of this title shall apply in criminal actions as well as in civil actions.

The court may discharge a jury without prejudice to the prosecution in case of accident or calamity, or because there is no probability of the jurors agreeing, and the reason for the discharge shall be entered in the minutes.

(a) All questions of law, including the admissibility of testimony, the facts preliminary to such admission, and the construction of statutes and other writings, and other rules of evidence, shall be decided by the court, and all discussions of law addressed to it. Whenever the k…

When it appears that the defendant has committed a crime, and there is reasonable ground of doubt in which of two or more degrees he is guilty, he can be convicted of the lowest of those degrees only.

When an information charges an offense against property by larceny, embezzlement, or obtaining by false pretenses, the jury, on conviction, shall ascertain and declare in the verdict the value of the property stolen, embezzled, or falsely obtained.

(a) If the defense is the mental illness of the defendant, the jury shall be instructed, if they find him not guilty on that ground, to state that fact in their verdict, and the court shall thereupon commit the defendant to a forensic unit for custody, care and treatment from whi…

When the testimony, for either the government or the defendant, of a material witness who is in custody within the Virgin Islands is desired, the court in its discretion may, upon the application of either the government or the defendant, issue an order for his temporary removal …

(a) When a judgment of conviction in a criminal action has been entered, the clerk shall forthwith furnish to the marshal a certified copy of the original judgment, and no other warrant or authority is necessary to justify its execution. Upon the expiration of any stay of executi…

(a) A judgment imposing a sentence of imprisonment shall specify whether the sentence is to be served concurrently with or consecutively to any other sentence imposed at the same time or prior thereto. If the sentences are to be served consecutively, the judgment shall specify wh…

Except as provided in section 3672 of this title and Rule 38 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the sentence of imprisonment of any person convicted of an offense in the district court or Superior Court of the Virgin Islands shall commence to run from the date on which h…

Whenever a person is accused of an offense and bail is allowed and fixed pending trial, but by reason of poverty, he is unable to secure bondsmen and is therefore held in custody while awaiting trial, and is thereafter sentenced to a term of imprisonment, his term of imprisonment…

(a) A judgment that the defendant pay a fine, or a fine and costs, may also direct that he be imprisoned until the same is satisfied, specifying the extent of imprisonment which shall not exceed one day for each two dollars of the fine, or fine and costs. In no event shall the ex…

(a) When the defendant in the Superior Court is found not guilty he shall be immediately discharged and if it appear to the judge that the prosecution was malicious or without probable cause he shall cause an entry to such effect to be made in the minutes of the court. (b) Upon m…

(a) This section may be cited as “Jah’niqua’s Law”. (b) As used in this section:(1) “Disabled” means a legal disability measured by functional inabilities in a person 17 years of age or older including inabilities caused by psychological, psychiatric, or stress-related trauma to …

(a) Judgment of conviction. Upon entering a judgment of conviction of any offense against the laws of the Virgin Islands not punishable by life imprisonment, the district court or a Superior Court, when satisfied that the ends of justice and the best interest of the public as wel…

(a) Upon a conviction of any offense against the laws of the Virgin Islands, not punishable by life imprisonment, if the defendant so convicted has not yet reached 21 years of age, and if the defendant so convicted has not previously been convicted under the laws of the Virgin Is…

When directed by the court, the probation officer shall report to the court, with a statement of the conduct of the probationer while on probation. The court may thereupon discharge the probationer from further supervision and may terminate the proceedings against him, or may ext…