Senate Bill No. 657
(By Senators Kessler, Plymale, Unger and Chafin)
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[Introduced March 20, 2009; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §61-6-24 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to clarifying that a terroristic
threat is a felony regardless of intent to actually commit the
threatened act.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-6-24 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. CRIMES AGAINST THE PEACE.
§61-6-24. Threats of terrorist acts, conveying false information
concerning terrorist acts and committing terrorist
hoaxes prohibited; penalties.
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Economic harm" means all direct, incidental and
consequential pecuniary harm suffered by a victim as a result of
criminal conduct. Economic harm includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(A) All wages, salaries or other compensation lost as a result
of the criminal conduct;
(B) The cost of all wages, salaries or other compensation paid
to employees for time those employees are prevented from working as
a result of the criminal conduct;
(C) The cost of all wages, salaries or other compensation paid
to employees for time those employees spent in reacting to the
results of the criminal conduct; or
(D) The overhead costs incurred for the time that a business
is shut down as a result of the criminal conduct.
(2) "Hoax substance or device" means any substance or device
that is shaped, sized, colored, marked, imprinted, numbered,
labeled, packaged, distributed, priced or delivered so as to cause
a reasonable person to believe that the substance or device is of
a nature which is capable of causing serious bodily injury or
damage to property or the environment.
(3) "Terrorist act" means an act that is:
(A) Likely to result in serious bodily injury or damage to
property or the environment; and
(B) Intended to:
(i) Intimidate or coerce the civilian population;
(ii) Influence the policy of a branch or level of government
by intimidation or coercion;
(iii) Affect the conduct of a branch or level of government by
intimidation or coercion; or
(iv) Retaliate against a branch or level of government for a
policy or conduct of the government.
(b) Any person who knowingly and willfully threatens to commit
a terrorist act,
with or without the intent to commit the act, is
guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
less than $5,000 nor more than $25,000 or confined in a state
correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than
three years, or both.
(c) Any person who knowingly and willfully conveys false
information knowing the information to be false concerning an
attempt or alleged attempt being made or to be made of a terrorist
act is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than $5,000 nor more than $25,000 or confined in a
state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more
than three years, or both.
(d) Any person who uses a hoax substance or device with the
specific intent to commit a terrorist act is guilty of a felony
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $10,000
nor more than $50,000 or confined in a state correctional facility
for not less than one year nor more than five years, or both.
(e) The court shall order any person convicted of an offense
under this section to pay the victim restitution in an amount not to exceed the total amount of any economic harm suffered.
(f) The court shall order any person convicted of an offense
under this section to reimburse the state or any subdivision of the
state for any expenses incurred by the state or the subdivision
incident to its response to a violation of this section.
(g) The conviction of any person under the provisions of this
section does not preclude or otherwise limit any civil proceedings
arising from the same act.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify that a
terroristic threat is a felony regardless of intent to actually
commit the threatened act.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.