The book covers all criminal offenses in North Carolina except those that are rarely encountered in North Carolina's criminal justice system. Although it covers some motor vehicle offenses, it does not attempt to present comprehensive coverage of the State's motor vehicle laws. Neither does it contain law on such special domains as alcoholic beverage control law and fish-and-game law. This sixth edition of the book includes statutory changes made through the 2006 session of the General Assembly and case law through December 31, 2006. The book has introductory chapters on states of mind, defenses, participants in crime, and punishment under structured sentencing. Separate chapters address law on major categories of offenses. The information on each offense within a category is divided into five sections: the statute, if any, dealing with the offense; the elements of the offense; the punishment for the offense; notes on legal points about and case law concerning the offense that are not evident in the listing of the elements; and the names of related offenses not in the chapter. Readers may find a particular offense by consulting the detailed table of contents at the beginning of the book, which lists all covered offenses; the directory of statutes, which lists all discussed statutory offenses in statutory order at the back of the book; or the subject index.