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(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a prosecution shall be barred unless it is commenced within the following periods after an offense is committed:
(1) For a misdemeanor other than a minor misdemeanor, two years;
(2) For a minor misdemeanor, six months.
(b) If the period of limitation provided in subsection (a) hereof has expired, prosecution shall be commenced for an offense of which an element is fraud or breach of a fiduciary duty, within one year after discovery of the offense either by an aggrieved person, or by his legal representative who is not himself a party to the offense.
(c) If the period of limitation provided in subsection (a) hereof has expired, prosecution shall be commenced for an offense involving misconduct in office by a public servant as defined in Section 525.01, at any time while the accused remains a public servant, or within two years thereafter.
(d) An offense is committed when every element of the offense occurs. In the case of an offense of which an element is a continuing course of conduct, the period of limitation does not begin to run until such course of conduct or the accused's accountability for it terminates, whichever occurs first.
(e) A prosecution is commenced on the date an indictment is returned or an information filed, or on the date a lawful arrest without a warrant is made, or on the date a warrant, summons, citation or other process is issued, whichever occurs first. A prosecution is not commenced by the return of an indictment or the filing of an information unless reasonable diligence is exercised to issue and execute process on the same. A prosecution is not commenced upon issuance of a warrant, summons, citation or other process, unless reasonable diligence is exercised to execute the same.
(f) The period of limitation shall not run during any time when the corpus delicti remains undiscovered.
(g) The period of limitation shall not run during any time when the accused purposely avoids prosecution. Proof that the accused absented himself from this Municipality or concealed his identity or whereabouts is prima-facie evidence of his purpose to avoid prosecution.
(h) The period of limitation shall not run during any time a prosecution against the accused based on the same conduct is pending in this State, even though the indictment, information or process which commenced the prosecution is quashed or the proceedings thereon are set aside or reversed on appeal. (ORC 2901.13)
(i) This section shall not apply to prosecutions commenced within the period of limitations set forth in Ohio R. C. 718.06(B) for violations of the Municipal income tax ordinance.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) hereof, a person is not guilty of an offense unless both of the following apply:
(1) His liability is based on conduct which includes either a voluntary act, or an omission to perform an act or duty which he is capable of performing;
(2) He has the requisite degree of culpability for each element as to which a culpable mental state is specified by the section defining the offense.
(b) When the section defining an offense does not specify any degree of culpability, and plainly indicates a purpose to impose strict criminal liability for the conduct described in such section, then culpability is not required for a person to be guilty of the offense. When the section neither specifies culpability nor plainly indicates a purpose to impose strict liability, recklessness is sufficient culpability to commit the offense.
(c) Voluntary intoxication may not be taken into consideration in determining the existence of a mental state that is an element of a criminal offense. Voluntary intoxication does not relieve a person of a duty to act if failure to act constitutes a criminal offense. Evidence that a person was voluntarily intoxicated may be admissible to show whether or not the person was physically capable of performing the act with which the person is charged.
(d) As used in this section:
(1) Possession is a voluntary act if the possessor knowingly procured or received the thing possessed, or was aware of his control thereof for a sufficient time to have ended his possession.
(2) Reflexes, convulsions, body movements during unconsciousness or sleep, and body movements that are not otherwise a product of the actor's volition, are involuntary acts.
(3) “Culpability” means purpose, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, as defined in Section 501.08.
(4) “Intoxication” includes, but is not limited to, intoxication resulting from the ingestion of alcohol, a drug, or alcohol and a drug.
(Ord. 13-02. Passed 9-3-02.)
(a) A person acts purposely when it is his specific intention to cause a certain result, or when the gist of the offense is a prohibition against conduct of a certain nature, regardless of what the offender intends to accomplish thereby, it is his specific intention to engage in conduct of that nature.
(b) A person acts knowingly, regardless of his purpose, when he is aware that his conduct will probably cause a certain result or will probably be of a certain nature. A person has knowledge of circumstances when he is aware that such circumstances probably exist.
(c) A person acts recklessly when, with heedless indifference to the consequences, he perversely disregards a known risk that his conduct is likely to cause a certain result or is likely to be of a certain nature. A person is reckless with respect to circumstances when, with heedless indifference to the consequences, he perversely disregards a known risk that such circumstances are likely to exist.
(d) A person acts negligently when, because of a substantial lapse from due care, he fails to perceive or avoid a risk that his conduct may cause a certain result or may be of a certain nature. A person is negligent with respect to circumstances when, because of a substantial lapse from due care, he fails to perceive or avoid a risk that such circumstances may exist.
(e) When the section defining an offense provides that negligence suffices to establish an element thereof, then recklessness, knowledge or purpose is also sufficient culpability for such element. When recklessness suffices to establish an element of an offense, then knowledge or purpose is also sufficient culpability for such element. When knowledge suffices to establish an element of an offense, then purpose is also sufficient culpability for such element.
(ORC 2901.22)
(a) No person, purposely or knowingly, and when purpose or knowledge is sufficient culpability for the commission of an offense under this General Offenses Code, shall engage in conduct which, if successful, would constitute or result in the offense.
(b) It is no defense to a charge under this section that, in retrospect, commission of the offense which was the object of the attempt was either factually or legally impossible under the attendant circumstances, if that offense could have been committed had the attendant circumstances been as the actor believed them to be.
(c) No person who is convicted of committing a specific offense, of complicity in the commission of an offense, or of conspiracy to commit an offense, shall be convicted of an attempt to commit the same offense in violation of this section.
(d) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under this section that the actor abandoned his or her effort to commit the offense or otherwise prevented its commission, under circumstances manifesting a complete and voluntary renunciation of his or her criminal purpose.
(e) Whoever violates this section is guilty of an attempt to commit an offense, an offense of the next lesser degree than the offense attempted. In the case of an attempt to commit an offense not specifically classified, an attempt is a misdemeanor of the first degree if the offense attempted is a felony, and a misdemeanor of the fourth degree if the offense attempted is a misdemeanor. An attempt to commit a minor misdemeanor, or to engage in conspiracy, is not an offense under this section.
(ORC 2923.02)
(a) No person, acting with the kind of culpability required for the commission of an offense, shall do any of the following:
(1) Solicit or procure another to commit the offense;
(2) Aid or abet another in committing the offense;
(3) Conspire with another to commit the offense in violation of Ohio R.C. 2923.01 (Conspiracy);
(4) Cause an innocent or irresponsible person to commit the offense.
(b) It is no defense to a charge under this section that no person with whom the accused was in complicity has been convicted as a principal offender.
(c) No person shall be convicted of complicity under this section unless an offense is actually committed, but a person may be convicted of complicity in an attempt to commit an offense in violation of Section 501.09.
(d) If an alleged accomplice of the defendant testifies against the defendant in a case in which the defendant is charged with complicity in the commission of or an attempt to commit an offense, an attempt to commit an offense, or an offense, the court, when it charges the jury, shall state substantially the following:
“The testimony of an accomplice does not become inadmissible because of his or her complicity, moral turpitude or self-interest, but the admitted or claimed complicity of a witness may affect his or her credibility and make his or her testimony subject to grave suspicion and require that it be weighed with great caution.
“It is for you, as jurors, in the light of all the facts presented to you from the witness stand, to evaluate such testimony and to determine its quality and worth or its lack of quality and worth.”
(e) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under this section that, prior to the commission of or attempt to commit the offense, the actor terminated his or her complicity under circumstances manifesting a complete and voluntary renunciation of his or her criminal purpose.
(f) Whoever violates this section is guilty of complicity in the commission of an offense, and shall be prosecuted and punished as if he or she were the principal offender. A charge of complicity may be stated in terms of this section or in terms of the principal offense.
(ORC 2923.03)
(a) An organization may be convicted of an offense under any of the following circumstances:
(1) The offense is a minor misdemeanor committed by an officer, agent or employee of the organization acting in its behalf and within the scope of his office or employment, except that if the section defining the offense designates the officers, agents or employees for whose conduct the organization is accountable or the circumstances under which it is accountable, such provisions shall apply.
(2) A purpose to impose organizational liability plainly appears in the section defining the offense, and the offense is committed by an officer, agent or employee of the organization acting in its behalf and within the scope of his office or employment, except that if the section defining the offense designates the officers, agents or employees for whose conduct the organization is accountable or the circumstances under which it is accountable, such provisions shall apply.
(3) The offense consists of an omission to discharge a specific duty imposed by law on the organization.
(4) If, acting with the kind of culpability otherwise required for the commission of the offense, its commission was authorized, requested, commanded, tolerated or performed by the board of directors, trustees, partners or by a high managerial officer, agent or employee acting in behalf of the organization and within the scope of his office or employment.
(b) When strict liability is imposed for the commission of an offense, a purpose to impose organizational liability shall be presumed, unless the contrary plainly appears.
(c) In a prosecution of an organization for an offense other than one for which strict liability is imposed, it is a defense that the high managerial officer, agent or employee having supervisory responsibility over the subject matter of the offense exercised due diligence to prevent its commission. This defense is not available if it plainly appears inconsistent with the purpose of the section defining the offense.
(d) As used in this section, “organization” means a corporation for profit or not for profit, partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, unincorporated association, estate, trust or other commercial or legal entity. “Organization” does not include an entity organized as or by a governmental agency for the execution of a governmental program.
(ORC 2901.23)
(a) An officer, agent or employee of an organization as defined in Section 501.11 may be prosecuted for an offense committed by such organization, if he acts with the kind of culpability required for the commission of the offense, and any of the following apply:
(1) In the name of the organization or in its behalf, he engages in conduct constituting the offense, or causes another to engage in such conduct, or tolerates such conduct when it is of a type for which he has direct responsibility;
(2) He has primary responsibility to discharge a duty imposed on the organization by law, and such duty is not discharged.
(b) When a person is convicted of an offense by reason of this section, he is subject to the same penalty as if he had acted in his own behalf.
(ORC 2901.24)
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