21-3203. Ignorance or mistake.
21-3203
21-3203. Ignorance or mistake.(1) A person's ignorance or mistake as to a matter of either fact orlaw, except as provided in section 21-3202, is a defense if it negativesthe existence of the mental state which the statute prescribes with respectto an element of the crime.
(2) A person's reasonable belief that his conduct does not constitute acrime is a defense if:
(a) The crime is defined by an administrative regulation or order whichis not known to him and has not been published in the Kansas administrativeregulations or an annual supplement thereto, as provided by law; and hecould not have acquired such knowledge by the exercise of due diligencepursuant to facts known to him; or
(b) He acts in reliance upon a statute which later is determined to beinvalid; or
(c) He acts in reliance upon an order or opinion of the supreme court ofKansas or a United States appellate court later overruled or reversed;
(d) He acts in reliance upon an official interpretation of the statute,regulation or order defining the crime made by a public officer or agencylegally authorized to interpret such statute.
(3) Although a person's ignorance or mistake of fact or law, orreasonable belief, as described in subsection (2) of this section, is adefense to the crime charged, he may be convicted of an included crime ofwhich he would be guilty if the fact or law were as he believed it to be.
History: L. 1969, ch. 180, § 21-3203; July 1, 1970.