H. B. 4645


(By Delegates Overington and Carmichael)

[Introduced February 22, 2002; referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary.]





A BILL to amend and reenact section nine, article two; sections three, four, five, six and thirty, article three; and section twenty-one, article six, all of chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to increasing periods of confinement and amounts of fines upon conviction for the commission of certain crimes of violence.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nine, article two; sections three, four, five six and thirty, article three; and section twenty-one, article six, all of chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-9. Malicious or unlawful assault; assault; battery; penalties.

(a) If any person maliciously shoot, stab, cut or wound any person, or by any means cause him bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill, he shall, except where it is otherwise provided, be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary a state correctional facility not less than two nor more than ten years. If such act be done unlawfully, but not maliciously, with the intent aforesaid, the offender shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall, in the discretion of the court, either be confined in the penitentiary a state correctional facility not less than one nor more than five ten years, or be confined in a county or regional jail not exceeding twelve months and fined not exceeding five hundred thousand dollars.
(b) Assault. -- If any person unlawfully attempts to commit a violent injury to the person of another or unlawfully commits an act which places another in reasonable apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury, he or she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be confined in a county or regional jail for not more than six twelve months, or fined not more than one hundred five thousand dollars, or both such fine and imprisonment.
(c) Battery. -- If any person unlawfully and intentionally makes physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with the person of another or unlawfully and intentionally causes physical harm to another person, he or she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be confined in a county or regional jail for not more than twelve months, or fined not more than five hundred thousand dollars, or both such fine and imprisonment.
ARTICLE 3. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY.
§61-3-3. Burning personal property of another of the value of five hundred dollars or more; third degree arson; penalty.
Any person who willfully and maliciously sets fire to or burns, or who causes to be burned, or who aids, counsels, procures, persuades, incites, entices or solicits any person to burn, any personal property of any class or character, of the value of not less than five hundred dollars, and the property of another person, shall be guilty of arson in the third degree and, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to the penitentiary a state correctional facility for a definite term of imprisonment which is not less than one nor more than three ten years. A person imprisoned pursuant to this section is not eligible for parole prior to having served a minimum of one year of his or her sentence.
§61-3-4. Attempt to commit arson; fourth degree arson; penalty.
(a) Any person who willfully and maliciously attempts to set fire to or burn, or attempts to cause to be burned, or attempts to aid, counsel, procure, persuade, incite, entice or solicit any person to burn, any of the buildings, structures or personal property mentioned in the foregoing sections, or who commits any act preliminary thereto, or in furtherance thereof, shall be guilty of arson in the fourth degree and, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to the penitentiary a state correctional facility for a definite term of imprisonment which is not less than one nor more than two ten years, or fined not to exceed two five thousand five hundred dollars, or both. A person imprisoned pursuant to this section is not eligible for parole prior to having served a minimum of one year of his or her sentence.
(b) The placing or distributing of any inflammable, explosive or combustible material or substance, or any device in any building, structure or personal property mentioned in the foregoing sections, in an arrangement or preparation with intent to eventually, willfully and maliciously, set fire to or burn, or to cause to be burned, or to aid, counsel, procure, persuade, incite, entice or solicit the setting fire to or burning of any building, structure or personal property mentioned in the foregoing sections shall, for the purposes of this section, constitute an attempt to burn that building, structure or personal property.
§61-3-5. Burning, or attempting to burn, insured property; penalty.
Any person who willfully and with intent to injure or defraud an insurer sets fire to or burns, or attempts so to do, or causes to be burned, or who aids, counsels, procures, persuades, incites, entices or solicits any person to burn, any building, structure or personal property, of any class or character, whether the property of himself or herself or of another, which shall at the time be insured or which is believed by the person committing an act prohibited by this section to be insured by any person against loss or damage by fire, shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to the penitentiary a state correctional facility for a definite term of imprisonment which is not less than one nor more than five ten years or fined not to exceed ten thousand dollars, or both. A person imprisoned pursuant to this section is not eligible for parole prior to having served a minimum of one year of his or her sentence or the minimum period required by the provisions of section thirteen, article twelve, chapter sixty-two of this code, whichever is greater.
§61-3-6. Willfully, unlawfully and maliciously setting fire on lands; penalty.
If any person willfully, unlawfully and maliciously sets fire to any woods, fence, grass, straw or other thing capable of spreading fire on lands, he or she shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be sentenced to the penitentiary a state correctional facility for a definite term of imprisonment which is not less than one year nor more than five ten years or fined not to exceed five thousand dollars, or both. He or she shall, moreover, be liable to any person injured thereby, or in consequence thereof, for double the amount of damages sustained by such person. A person imprisoned pursuant to this section is not eligible for parole prior to having served a minimum of one year of his or her sentence or the minimum period required by the provisions of section thirteen, article twelve, chapter sixty-two of this code, whichever is greater.
§61-3-30. Removal, injury to or destruction of property, monuments designating land boundaries and of certain no trespassing signs; penalties.

If any person unlawfully, but not feloniously, take and carry away, or destroy, injure or deface any property, real or personal, not his own, he or she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than five hundred thousand dollars, or imprisoned in the a county or regional jail not more than one year, or both fined and imprisoned.
If any person shall break down, destroy, injure, deface or remove any monument erected for the purpose of designating the boundaries of a municipality, tract or lot of land, or any tree marked for that purpose, or any sign or notice upon private property designating no trespassing upon such property, except signs or notices posted in accordance with the provisions and purposes of sections seven, eight and ten, article two, chapter twenty of this code, he or she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than twenty dollars nor more than two hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the a county or regional jail not less than one nor more than six months, or both fined and imprisoned. Justices of the peace and magistrates Magistrates shall have concurrent jurisdiction of all offenses arising under the provisions of this section. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to the owner, or his or her agent, of the lands on which such signs or notices are posted.
ARTICLE 6. CRIMES AGAINST THE PEACE.

§61-6-21. Prohibiting violations of an individual's civil rights; penalties.

(a) All persons within the boundaries of the state of West Virginia have the right to be free from any violence or intimidation by threat of violence, committed against their persons or property because of their race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation or sex. Therefore, the punishments called for in this chapter should be vigorously enforced to ensure the protection of all persons from violence against their person or property.
(b) If any person does by force or threat of force, willfully injure, intimidate or interfere with, or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere with, or oppress or threaten any other person in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him or her by the Constitution or laws of the state of West Virginia or by the Constitution or laws of the United States, because of such other person's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation or sex, he or she shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
(c) If any person conspires with another person or persons to willfully injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate or interfere with any citizen because of such other person's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation or sex in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him or her by the Constitution or laws of the state of West Virginia or by the Constitution or laws of the United States, and in willfull furtherance thereof to assemble with one or more persons for the purpose of teaching any technique or means capable of causing property damage, bodily injury or death when such person or persons intend to employ such techniques or means to violate this section, each such person shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
(d) The fact that a person committed a felony or misdemeanor, or attempted to commit a felony, because of the victim's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation or sex, shall be considered a circumstance in aggravation of any crime in imposing sentence.
(e) Nothing contained in this section makes unlawful the teaching of any technique in self-defense.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed so as to make it unlawful nor to prohibit nor, in any manner, to impede or to interfere with any person in conducting labor union or labor union organizing activities.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the punishments for the treated crimes which, with vigorous enforcement, should better ensure the protection of all persons from violence against their person and property.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.