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CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
I'm innocent, I tell ya! 
All right, we both know you're here for one of two reasons.
1) You want to understand the law and the methods that the constabulary uses to enforce it in order to prevent your
ignorance from earning you a stiff jail term, or
2) You're a crook, a thief and a swindler and wanna know how to get around the law via the old "Know your enemy" technique.
So, let's go...
First, what is a crime and what isn't? That's simple enough. To get a look at the official word on the subject just type, in-game, ?VI or ?XI. These two commands will open up help files on the subject of crime and punishment in Iridine. But if these two help sections don't help you, that's okay. We got all that and more right here in the old Vineyard. 
Thanks to Grazen and Minos for their submissions on this topic!!!
Crimes and sentencing:
1) Petty theft*- the stealing of private property under the value of 250 denars.  Sentence per count - 100 minutes.

2) Larceny*- the stealing of private property above the value of 250 denars.  Sentence per count - 3,000 minutes.

3) Damage to Private Property- the crime explains itself.  Sentence is 1,500 minutes.

4) Fraud- the most common type of fraud has been given its own sentencing (see #5, below). Intentionally defrauding someone of money, property, or reputation by cheating, mis-representation or other scurrilous means. This usually covers forgery (faking of another's signature or other identifying mark) and fraud (basically pulling a con job...remember that shopkeeper that was selling bogus items a while back?) Sentence - 5,000 minutes.

5) Impersonation- the twelve tables define this as pretending to be someone who you are not. Harm to said person's reputation compounds the crime. Recently (if you call more than two years back real time "recently") it has been extended to wearing a hood/mask/faceplate in public.  Sentence - 2,000 minutes.

6) Impersonation of a patrician- pretending to be a patrician when you are not (never seen this done before).  Sentence - 5,000 minutes.

7) Theft of Public Property- the crime explains itself.  Sentence - 1,500 minutes.

8) Damage of Public Property- the crime explains itself. Sentence - 1,500 minutes.

9) Impropriety- acting in an inappropriate manner in public. (Usually running around naked and mooning everyone you see). Beware, I have recently learned that kissing is technically Impropriety. Don't do it around a constable who has a personality conflict with you. Sentence - 100 minutes.

10) Minor assault* **- attacking another with intent to inflict personal harm. Sentence - 100 minutes.

11) Disturbing the peace- the crime explains itself. In other words, bugging the hell out of everybody. Sentence - 100 minutes.

12) Major assault* **- an attack on another which results in severe bodily harm or incapacitation (unconsciousness).  Sentence - 200 minutes.

13) Assaulting a patrician- the crime explains itself.  Sentence - 3,000 minutes.

14) Kidnapping and confinement- the abduction and or confinement of another unwilling individual.  Sentence - 20,000 minutes.

15) Murder of a non-citizen- causing the death of someone who is known as a foreigner.  Sentence - 2,000 minutes.

16) Murderer of a humiliore- causing the death of a citizen of the city ("head counts" included, that means you and your fellow players).  Sentence - 500,000 minutes.

17) Murder of a honestiore- causing the death of a more upstanding citizen of the city.  Usually a well known shopkeeper or bartender.  Sentence - 500,000 minutes.

18) Murder of a Patrician- the crime explains itself.  Sentence - 500,000 minutes.

19) Magic- use of the outlawed magics. (Never seen this done either.)  Sentence - 500,000 minutes.

20) Treason-  acting in a manner that would aim to topple or weaken the republic.  This would include spying, attacking a member of the legion, or plotting to murder or actually murdering a government official.  Sentence - 500,000 minutes.

* denotes what most of criminals are warranted for and probably are the most common crimes

** The line between major and minor assault is a thin one.  Merely scoring a hit on someone else constitutes major assault with those nameless constables that wander the street so watch yourselves.  

Warrants:
Automatic warranting: Some crimes attract the attention of the NPC crowds and the NPC constables themselves. Examples of this would be pickpocketing (for all you thieves out there) and attacking NPC's. NPC's in the crowd will find a constable (look for constable) and point you out to him. If you attack certain NPC's, in fact, you can usually count on them screaming for help on the think-net and naming you as their attacker! If that happens, you can pretty much prepared to die, a city full of vigilantes will soon be seeking your blood. Players tend to take attacks on the NPC's of the city as a personal affront.
Getting warranted: As indicated above, committing some crimes in a crowd will automatically get you warranted if you don't get away in time and likely will cause a constable to appear and attempt to arrest you (in other words, start whacking you with his stave, demanding your submission.) But, committing crimes in front of other players who care enough to turn you in is another matter. Players can pull constables out of the crowd, too. (With the command strings: Look for constable and, then, show <the criminal> to constable). This will get you warranted, too.
What it means to be warranted: A warrant is a exactly what is sounds like. Your name is placed on a list of other criminals along with the crime you are accused of. At any time in the future a player-constable can arrest you for that crime. NPC constables, if they are in the area and are active, will automatically attempt to apprehend you if you are warranted, even if the crime was so long ago that no one remembers it. NPC connies have a long memory. [Note: The city has apparently gained quite a lot of new constables. I have found them all over the city, at all of the high traffic spots, just waiting for a warranted character to stop by.]  
Getting arrested:
Okay, so you broke the law and now those mean ole connies are after you. What to do? Well, you got three choices, really:
Fight, run or submit.
Fighting connies: Forget it. Just forget it. You can't beat NPC connies, so don't even try. They are tough as hell and can out-whack all but the best warrior-players in Iridine. Now, if you are tough enough to take on a connie or two you wouldn't be here seeking my advice, you'd have been around long enough to know more about constables and the law than me. Ole Vino can't even take a connie, and I'm a fairly good glads-man meself.
Player-connies are not always as tough as an NPC connie and, if you are really, really tough you might be able to take one. But, still, there are plenty of reasons not to. First, any and every player in the area will likely feel justified in jumping into the fight and kicking your arse. Second, whatever connie you are facing is not likely to be the only one in town at the moment. Reinforcements are on the way, trust me. Third, the player-constable and all players in the area can still pick NPC connies out of the crowd who will automatically join the fray. Fourth, you just added another assault charge to your rap-sheet.
Running away: Fairly easy to do with NPC connies. They are slow and aren't likely to approach you before you run off again. But they will pursue for a short distance, so don't stop right in the next area. Remember, however, that if the connie is already attempting to arrest you then you have obviously been warranted. That means that from now on, whenever you are around NPC constables who are active, they will attempt to arrest you. Forever. Until you finally go to jail and serve your time.
Also, player-connies aren't all that easy to get away from and, if you prove yourself to be a runner, or are known to be one, they will likely not even attempt to let you submit. They'll go for the killing blows and try to knock you unconscious (at which time the game automatically takes you "into custody").
Submitting: Probably the best course of action for any newbie (or anyone else for that matter). When connies attempt to arrest you they don't simply say "Freeze!" and wait for you to submit. Oh no. They start whacking you on the head with their staves and probably won't even ask you to submit until they have whacked you a few times. When approached by an NPC connie attempting to arrest you, just go passive. You will automatically be taken into custody.
Player constables are a different matter. They won't automatically know when you have gone passive and may keep on whacking you. The best advice that I can give you is the same the Grazen offers newbies. Sit down. Yeah, just sit down on the ground and go passive. This makes it really obvious that you have submitted and the player-connie can take you into custody without whacking you anymore with his overgrown toothpick.  
Go to jail, go directly to jail.
When you are finally taken into custody you will be instantly dragged off to the local jail (usually the Iridine jail, but if you are in Monlan or Vetallun you will go to their jail). Any belongings you have on your person will be taken from you and you be left with nothing but your birthday suit. You'll be left in a little cell with whoever else is currently under arrest until you have exhausted you sentence. Butt naked.
The jailtime command: By using the jailtime command the current remaining time on your sentence will be reported to you whenever you want.
And yes, you can just log out of the game for the duration of your sentence. The sentence is given in both game-time and real-time for the duration of your in-game time. But you needn't be online to do your time.
Don't try to amuse yourself by punching, kicking or even approaching other players who share a cell with you. The constables have developed an interest in jabbing anyone who approaches another prisoner with their staves. It hurts.
Also, when your time is up your character is hauled rudely out of the cell and dumped in the common room. Your belongings will be returned to you in a sack bearing your name. If you are AFK, any thief wandering around near the jailhouse could easily wander in grab your sack out of your hands. There are some who make a living in town doing this very thing.
Beware also of the more ruthless thieves who hang out in the jailhouse to attack newly released criminals. Unarmed and unarmored you are a sitting duck and your sack of goodies is an easy grab-and-run for anyone.
Once you have been released you will note that your sack now bears your name. This is so the connies in the jailhouse can identify your belongings, at least that's the IC explanation. In reality, it brands you as a criminal. I would suggest getting rid of it as soon as you can afford a new sack. Unless, of course, you're dumb enough to want everyone to think you're an untrustworthy criminal.
Miscellaneous:
Now, a word or two here: Player constables have a free reign to issue warrants. They simply enter a certain command string and your name is added to the list of those warranted. That means that, simply, if a player-constable is in the area with you and even thinks you have committed a crime, he/she can warrant you. For example, if you use emote to "pretend" to do something illegal, the player-connie may very well "believe" (IC) that you have actually done it and warrant you. This gives him the right to approach you, attack you and arrest you. NPC connies will attempt to arrest you, too, you remember, if you have been warranted.
Those bad connies that issue warrants against you for crimes that you really didn't commit, nor have any reason to believe that you did, are dealt with in-house. Your best course of action is such a case would be to submit your complaint to the constable officials. But, if you have given the connies a reason to believe that you have committed the criminal act, don't expect mercy.

Hoods and masks: Hoods and masks won't help you keep from being warranted. Committing a crime while hooded or masked in front of player-constable may prevent them from knowing who you are at that moment, but the warrant issued will still be in your name. That means that NPC connies will still attempt to arrest you even if you are no longer hooded/masked. Player-connies will also have your name on their list of warrants along with the crime you have committed. Hence, hooded/masked thieves who are warranted for, say, pickpocketing will be known as thieves by any connie that happens to check the warrant list.
Eye-witnesses: Crimes committed in front of witnesses who fail to point you out to a connie can still get you later. If there are witnesses who are considered reliable by the constable receiving the report you can still be warranted. Remember, constables in old Rome didn't really need evidence to arrest you. The same goes for Iridine. And in Iridine you'll never see the inside of a court room. If a constable decides to warrant you, that's it. You will get caught eventually and you will serve your time.
So, if a player-connie receives reports from a reliable witness or witnesses, he may well decide to warrant you. Don't think you got away with it because you got away from the witnesses.  


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