New Hampshire § 626:3 Effect of Ignorance or Mistake

New Hampshire Statutes

§ 626:3 — Effect of Ignorance or Mistake

New Hampshire § 626:3

Title LXIICRIMINAL CODE

Ch. 626GENERAL PRINCIPLES

This text of New Hampshire § 626:3 (Effect of Ignorance or Mistake) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 626:3 (2026).

Text

I. A person is not relieved of criminal liability because he acts under a mistaken belief of fact unless:

(a)The mistake negatives the culpable mental state required for commission of the offense; or

(b)The statute defining the offense expressly provides that such mistake is a defense; or

(c)Such mistake supports a defense of justification as defined in RSA 627. II. A person is not relieved of criminal liability because he acts under a mistaken belief that his conduct does not, as a matter of law, constitute an offense unless his belief is founded upon a statement of the law contained in a statute or other enactment, or an administrative order or grant of permission, or a judicial decision of a state or federal court, or a written interpretation of the law relating to the offense offici

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I. A person is not relieved of criminal liability because he acts under a mistaken belief of fact unless:
(a) The mistake negatives the culpable mental state required for commission of the offense; or
(b) The statute defining the offense expressly provides that such mistake is a defense; or
(c) Such mistake supports a defense of justification as defined in RSA 627.
II. A person is not relieved of criminal liability because he acts under a mistaken belief that his conduct does not, as a matter of law, constitute an offense unless his belief is founded upon a statement of the law contained in a statute or other enactment, or an administrative order or grant of permission, or a judicial decision of a state or federal court, or a written interpretation of the law relating to the offense officially made by a public servant, agency or body legally empowered with authority to administer, enforce or interpret such law. The defendant must prove a defense arising under this subsection by a preponderance of evidence.