Legal Question in Criminal Law in Arizona

Sexual Contact With a Minor

Since I am not licensed in Arizona, I really can't tell you what the law is there, but for others wondering about this, the general rule is that once a state decides the age of consent, sexual intercourse with anyone younger than the age of consent is statury rape, even if the minor initiated it, even if you were certain she was legally of age, even if you have never done anything like it before, even if she was working the street as a prostitute at the time, even if she had just had sex with a shipload of sailors before she had sex with you, even if the way she looked and the way she dressed would have caused EVERYONE to believe she was old enough to consent, even if she lied and TOLD you she was of age and produced a phoney driver's license showing she was of age, and even if she became old enough to consent only 15 minutes after you had sex with her.In most states, none of that makes any difference.The age varies from state to state, but in ALL states, you can get real prison time for statutory rape.

Sexual Conduct with a Minor

The Arizona statute regarding sexual conductwith a minor prohibits anyone from "intentionally or knowingly engaging in sexual intercourse or oral sexual contact with any person who is under eighteen years of age." A.R.S. 13-1405."Intentionally" means "that a person's objective is to . . . engage in that conduct." A.R.S.13-105(9)(a). "Knowingly" means "that a person is aware or believes . . . that the circumstance exist. It does not require any knowledge of the unlawfulness of the act or omission." A.R.S.13-105(9)(b).

With respect to ignorance of a fact, the Arizonastatutes provide that "Ignorance or a mistaken belief as to a matter of fact does not relieve a person of criminal liability unless: 1. It negates the culpable mental state required for commission of the offense . . ."A.R.S. 13-204.

If the charge is sexual conduct with a minor,and assuming you are telling the truth, thereis a possibility, probably VERY SMALL, thatyou might be able to use those sections ofArizona law to develop a defense. If the girlcould come into court and look any youngerthan 18, though, you probably have a snowball'schance in you-know-where of actually convincinga judge or jury that you aren't bright enoughto realize how old this girl was.

Hiring a private attorney to defend this oneis going to be very expensive; if you qualify fora public defender, I'd see if you get a goodone and whether he can negotiate some kind of plea.

THE CONTENTS OF THIS MESSAGE DO NOT CREATE ANYATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP, AND SHOULD NOT BERELIED ON AS LEGAL ADVICE IN MAKING ANY DECISIONREGARDING THE CONDUCT OF YOUR LEGAL AFFAIRS.YOU SHOULD CONSULT WITH AN ATTORNEY OF YOUR OWNCHOOSING BEFORE MAKING ANY IMPORTANT LEGAL DECISIONS.

sexual conduct with a minor

The general rule is that ignorance of age is no excuse for statutory rape.Statutory rape has been described as a strict liability crime. Anotherview is that since the parties were not married to each other, the adulthad the criminal intent to commit the crime of fornication or adultery.Since he had some criminal intent, he can't complain that he committed amore serious crime than he thought. More recently some states such asCalifornia, have allowed the defense of lack of knowledge of age (lack ofcriminal intent).