HB 4604 Text

Introduced Version House Bill 4604 History

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hb4604 intr H. B. 4604

(By Delegates Armstead, Miley, Iaquinta,
Walters, Fragale, Skaff, Cann and Lane)

[Introduced February 22, 2010 ; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]

A BILL to amend and reenact §61-5-17 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to increasing the criminal penalties for persons who obstruct, flee from or make false statements to law-enforcement officers, probation officers and parole officers.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-5-17 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC JUSTICE.

§61-5-17. Obstructing officer; fleeing from officer; making false statements to officer; penalties; definitions.

(a) Any person who by threats, menaces, acts or otherwise, forcibly or illegally hinders or obstructs, or attempts to hinder or obstruct, any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $50 nor more than $500 or confined in ~~the county or regional~~ jail not more than one year, or both fined and confined.
(b) Any person who intentionally disarms or attempts to disarm any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer, acting in his or her official capacity, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in ~~the~~ a state correctional facility not less than one nor more than five years.
(c) Any person who, with intent to impede or obstruct a law-enforcement officer in the conduct of an investigation of a felony offense, knowingly and willfully makes a materially false statement, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $25 and not more than $200, or confined in ~~the county or regional~~ jail for five days, or both fined or confined. ~~Provided,~~ ~~That~~ However, the provisions of this section ~~shall~~ do not apply to statements made by a spouse, parent, stepparent, grandparent, sibling, half-sibling, child, stepchild or grandchild, whether related by blood or marriage, of the person under investigation. Statements made by the person under investigation may not be used as the basis for prosecution under this subsection. For the purposes of this subsection, "law- enforcement officer" ~~shall~~ does not include watchman, State Police or college security personnel.
(d) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee by any means other than the use of a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity who is attempting to make a lawful arrest of the person, and who knows or reasonably believes that the officer is attempting to arrest him or her, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $50 nor more than $500 or confined in ~~the county or regional~~ jail not more than one year, or both fined and confined.
(e) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the person to stop, is guilty of a ~~misdemeanor~~ felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than ~~$500~~ $1,000 nor more than ~~$1,000~~ $2,000, and shall be ~~confined~~ imprisoned in ~~the county or regional jail~~ a state correctional facility not ~~more than one year~~ less than one nor more than five years.
(f) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the person to stop, and who causes damage to the real or personal property of any person during or resulting from his or her flight, is guilty of a ~~misdemeanor~~ felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than ~~$1,000~~ $3,000 nor more than ~~$3,000~~ $5,000, and shall be ~~confined in the county or regional jail~~ imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not less than ~~six~~ eighteen months nor more than ~~one year~~ five years.
(g) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the person to stop, and who causes bodily injury to any person during or resulting from his or her flight, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less than ~~one~~ three nor more than ~~five~~ ten years.
(h) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the person to stop, and who causes death to any person during or resulting from his or her flight, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a definite term of imprisonment in a state correctional facility which is not less than ~~three~~ five nor more than ~~fifteen~~ twenty years. A person imprisoned pursuant to the provisions of this subsection is not eligible for parole prior to having served a minimum of three years 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.
(i) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the person to stop, and who is under the influence of alcohol, controlled substances or drugs at the time, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less than ~~one~~ three nor more than ~~five~~ ten years.
(j) For purposes of this section, the term "vehicle" includes any motor vehicle, motorcycle, motorboat, all-terrain vehicle or snowmobile, as those terms are defined in section one, article one, chapter seventeen-a of this code, whether or not it is being operated on a public highway at the time and whether or not it is licensed by the state.
(k) For purposes of this section, the terms "flee," "fleeing" and "flight" do not include any person's reasonable attempt to travel to a safe place, allowing the pursuing law-enforcement officer to maintain appropriate surveillance, for the purpose of complying with the officer's direction to stop.
(l) The revisions to subsections (e), (f), (g) and (h) of this article enacted during the Second Regular Session of the Seventy- ninth Legislature shall be known as the "Jerry Alan Jones Act."

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the criminal penalties for persons who obstruct, flee from or make false statements to law-enforcement officers, probation officers and parole officers. The bill also provides that the revisions to the code are to be known as the "Jerry Alan Jones Act."

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