Judge: The defendant admits noncompliance with national building codes ... ...

Judge: The defendant admits noncompliance with national building codes but asks that penalties not be imposed because he was confused as to whether national or local building codes applied to the area in which he was building. This excuse might be acceptable had he been charged with noncompliance with local codes, but since he is charged with noncompliance with national codes, his excuse is unacceptable. Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the judge’s reasoning?
(A) Local codes and national codes must not overlap with each other.
(B) ...
(C) ...
(D) ...
(E) ...

*This question is included in Dec 2012 LSAT (PT68): Logical Reasoning A