Senate Bill No. 612
(By Senators Sprouse and Weeks)
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[Introduced March 21, 2005; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §61-11-8 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to establishing the crime and
penalty for attempted murder of a law-enforcement officer.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-11-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 11. GENERAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING CRIMES.
§61-11-8. Attempts; classification and penalties therefor.
Every person who attempts to commit an offense, but fails to
commit or is prevented from committing it, shall, where it is not
otherwise provided, be punished as follows:
(1) If the offense attempted be punishable with life
imprisonment, the person making such attempt
shall be is guilty of
a felony and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be imprisoned in
the
penitentiary a state correctional facility not less than three nor
more than fifteen years:
Provided, That if an attempt is upon a
law-enforcement officer as defined in section one, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of this code, the person shall be
imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less than fifteen
nor more than thirty years.
(2) If the offense attempted be punishable by imprisonment in
the penitentiary a state correctional facility for a term less than
life,
such the person
shall be is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction
thereof, shall, in the discretion of the court, either
be imprisoned in
the penitentiary a state correctional facility for
not less than one nor more than three years, or be confined in jail
not less than six nor more than twelve months, and fined not
exceeding five hundred dollars.
(3) If the offense attempted be punishable by confinement in
jail,
such the person
shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction
thereof, shall be confined in jail not more than six
months, or fined not exceeding one hundred dollars.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish the crime and
penalty for attempted murder of a law-enforcement officer.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.