The following information is excerpted from the North Carolina Revised General Statutes, Chapter 14, Criminal Law. It is not intended to be invested with any legal standing. It is intended to be nothing more than a source of general information for young people about some of the criminal laws that may impact them directly. For more comprehensive definitions and the complete definitions of the laws cited here, the reader is directed to the North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 14.

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Punishments

Punishment for Felonies (14-1.1) Class "A" - Death or life imprisonment Class "B" - Life imprisonment Class "C" - 50 years or life imprisonment, or fine, or both Class "D" - 40 years or fine or both Class "E" - 30 years or fine or both Class "F" - 20 years or fine or both Class "G" - 15 years or fine or both Class "H" - 10 years or fine or both Class "I" - 5 years or fine or both Class "J" - 3 years or fine or both   Punishment for Misdemeanors (14-3) "...convicted for any misdemeanor for which nonspecific punishment is prescribed by statute shall be punishable by fine, by imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or by both, in the discretion of the court."   Punishment of "Juveniles" Juveniles can be punished in court as adults under certain circumstances. The law determines how a juvenile will be treated based upon age and seriousness of the crime committed: If the individual is under 16 years of age and has committed a relatively minor crime, such as vandalism, he/she will be treated as a delinquent juvenile. If the individual is 16 years or older, they are an adult and will be treated as such. If the individual is 14 years of age or older and commits a serious crime, such as burglary in the first degree, they CAN be tried as an adult. Arrest and conviction for a crime can have some very long term impacts. The ability to go to college, to get a scholarship, to become an attorney or a doctor, to get into the military, to become a police officer, and in some cases, to get certain kinds of jobs, may be affected and may be denied to an individual with a criminal record.

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Crimes Against Persons

Murder in the First and Second Degree (14-17) A murder which shall be perpetrated by ... poison, lying in wait, imprisonment, starving, torture, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate and premeditated killing or which shall be committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of any arson, rape or sex offense, robbery, kidnapping, burglary, or other felony committed or attempted with the use of a deadly weapon, shall be ... murder in the first degree ... and shall be punished by death or life imprisonment ... except that any person ... under 17 years of age at the time of the murder shall be punished with imprisonment ... for life. All other kinds of murder, including that which shall be proximately caused by the unlawful distribution of opium or any synthetic or natural salt, compound, derivative, or the preparation of opium ... cause the death of the user, shall be ... murder in the second degree and ... shall be punished as a Class C felony. Classification: First Degree - Class A Felony (death or life imprisonment); Second Degree - Class B2 Felony (50 years, life imprisonment, fine, or both).   First Degree Rape (14-27.2) A person is guilty of rape in the first degree if the person engages in vaginal intercourse: With a victim who is a child under the age of 13 years and the defendant is at least 12 years old and is at least four years older than the victim; or With another person by force and against the will of the other person, and: a. Employs or displays a dangerous or deadly weapon ... ; or b. Inflicts serious ... injury ...; or c. The person commits the offense aided or abetted by one or more other persons. Classification: Class B1 Felony (40 years and/or fine)   Second Degree Rape (14-27.3) A person is guilty of rape in the second degree if the person engages in vaginal intercourse with another person: By force and against the will of the other person; or ... Classification: Class C Felony (40 years and/or fine)   First Degree Sexual Offense (14-27.4) A person is guilty of a sexual offense in the first degree if the person engages in sexual act (other than vaginal intercourse): With a victim who is a child under the age of 13 years and the defendant is at least 12 years old and is at least four years older than the victim; or With another person by force and against the will of the other person, and: a. Employs or displays a dangerous or deadly weapon or an article which the other person ... believes to be ... [a] weapon; or b. Inflicts serious personal injury on the victim or other ...; or c. The person commits the offense aided ... by one or more ... Classification: Class B1 Felony (life imprisonment)   Second Degree Sexual Offense (14-27.5) A person is guilty of a sexual offense in the second degree if the person engages in a sexual act (other than vaginal intercourse) with another ... By force and against the will of the other person; or Who is mentally defective, mentally incapacitated ... and the person per forming the act knows or should reasonably know that the other person in mentally defective, mentally incapacitated ... Classification: Class C Felony (40 years or a fine or both)   Misdemeanor Assaults (14-33) a. Any person who commits a simple assault or a simple assault and battery ... [is] punishable ... b. ... any person who commits any assault, assault and battery, ... [is] punishable ... if: Inflicts or attempts to inflict serious injury ... or uses a deadly weapon; or Assaults a female, he being a male ... at least 18 years of age; or Assaults a child under ... 12 years; or Assaults a law-enforcement officer, ... or Assaults an officer of the ... Court ... Assaults a school administrator, school teacher, substitute teacher, teacher's aide, ... Classification: a) Class 2 Misdemeanor ($50 or 30 days); b) Misdemeanor (two years and/or fine)   Robbery with Firearms or ... Dangerous Weapons (14-87) Any person or persons who, having in possession or with the use or threatened use of any firearms or other dangerous weapon ... whereby the life of a person is endangered or threatened, unlawfully takes or attempts to take ... property ... shall be guilty ... of ... ... a person convicted of robbery ... shall serve a term of not less than seven years. Classification: Class D Felony (40 years and/or a fine)   Indecent Exposure (14-190.9) Any person who shall willfully expose the private parts of his or her person in any public place and in the presence of any other person ... of the opposite sex ... shall be guilty. Classification: Class 2 Misdemeanor (6 months and/or $500)   Cursing, Threatening, or Harassing Using a Telephone (14-196) Using profane, indecent, or threatening language to any person over telephone; annoying or harassing by repeated telephoning or making false statements over telephone. It shall be unlawful for any person: To use in telephonic communications any words or language of a profane, vulgar, lewd, lascivious or indecent character, nature or connotation. To use in telephonic communication any words or language threatening to inflict bodily harm ... to any person. To telephone another repeatedly, whether or not conversation ensues, for the purpose of abusing, annoying, ... Classification: Class 2 Misdemeanor (2 years and/or fine)   Cursing (14-197) Using profane or indecent language on public highways; counties exempt If any person shall, on any public road or highway and in the hearing of two or more persons, in a loud and boisterous manner, use indecent or profane language, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor ... Classification: Class 3 Misdemeanor (30 days or $50)   Resisting Arrest (14-223) If any person shall willfully and unlawfully resist, delay or obstruct a public officer in discharging or attempting to discharge a duty of his office, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor ... Classification: Class 2 Misdemeanor (6 month and/or $500)   Public Intoxication (Drunkenness) (14-444) It shall be unlawful for any person in a public place to be intoxicated ... Blocking ... traffic ... Blocking ... a sidewalk ... Grabbing, shoving, pushing or fighting ... Cursing or shouting ... Classification: Class 3 Misdemeanor (30 days and/or $50)   Disorderly Conduct (14-288.4) Disorderly conduct is a public disturbance intentionally caused by any person who: Engages in fighting ... Makes or uses any utterance, gesture, ... ... or seizes any building ... Refuses to vacate a building ... (a) ... sitting, kneeling, lying down, in a (public institution) Disrupts or interferes with the teaching of students at any public or private educational institution ... Classification: Class 2 Misdemeanor (6 months and/or $500)