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2010 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Courts of Justice
Subcommittee Criminal

Reynolds (Chairman)

Clerk: Angi Murphy
Date of Meeting: January 18, 2010
Time and Place: 4:00 p.m., Senate Room A

S.B. 208

Patron: Barker

Family or household member; definition.  Includes within the definition of a person's "family or household member" any individual who is currently or was formerly involved in a substantive, intimate dating relationship with the person; the existence of such a substantive relationship shall be determined based on (i) the length of the relationship, (ii) the nature of the relationship, and (iii) the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship. A casual relationship or ordinary fraternization in a business or social context does not constitute a dating relationship. Expanding the definition of "family or household member" implicates crimes for which a family or household member is a victim (e.g., assault and battery against a family member) and protective orders under which a person may be protected (e.g., protective orders in cases of family abuse).

S.B. 248

Patron: Watkins

Indigent defendants; right to ex parte hearing for appointment of experts in capital cases.  Provides that an indigent defendant who has been charged with a capital offense may move in circuit court for the appointment of experts to assist in the preparation of his defense. The presiding judge shall designate another judge in the judicial circuit who may hold an ex parte hearing on such a motion and may order the appointment of an expert. Prior to an ex parte proceeding, communication, or request, a particularized need for confidentiality must be demonstrated in an adversarial proceeding. A motion for an ex parte hearing shall be in writing and filed under seal and any ex parte hearing conducted shall be on the record and kept under seal as part of the record of the case. The court may unseal the record after the trial is concluded for good cause shown.

S.B. 300

Patron: Miller, J.C.

DUI offenses; passenger age 18 or younger; penalties.  Creates a new offense of driving under the influence with a passenger who is 18 years of age or younger, which is a Class 1 misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class 6 felony for a second offense with certain mandatory minimums. The bill also amends the DUI involuntary manslaughter statute to provide that the death of a person age 18 or younger is automatically aggravated manslaughter. If the conduct is already aggravated manslaughter and the victim is a person age 18 or younger, the minimum punishment is increased by one year. The bill also amends the DUI malicious wounding statute to increase the penalty from a Class 6 to a Class 5 felony if the victim is age 18 years or younger.

S.B. 320

Patron: Ruff

Crimes; falsely summoning or giving false reports to law-enforcement officials; penalty.  Increases from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony falsely summoning or giving false reports to a law-enforcement official.

S.B. 397

Patron: Wagner

Misdemeanor fines.  Provides that the maximum fine for a misdemeanor is raised each July 1, starting July 1, 2011, by an amount approximately equal to the annual rate of inflation for the previous calendar year.

S.B. 422

Patron: Wampler

Drug Treatment Court Act; City of Bristol. Establishes a drug treatment court in the City of Bristol subject to the requirements and conditions established by the state Drug Treatment Court Advisory Committee, provided the court is funded within existing state and local appropriations.

S.B. 444

Patron: Reynolds

Destruction of live marijuana plants. Provides that where a seizure of more than 10 suspected live marijuana plants is made in connection with any drug prosecution or investigation, the appropriate law-enforcement agency may retain 10 of the seized plants and destroy the remainder by direction of the chief law-enforcement officer or his designee, without a court order, when: it is not reasonably possible to preserve all of the plants in place or to remove the plants to another location; random and representative samples of the plants to be destroyed are retained for evidentiary purposes; and photographs or video recordings are taken to record the total amount of the suspected marijuana plants seized.

S.B. 462

Patron: Howell

Crime victims; immigration status.  Provides that no law-enforcement officer or other agent of state or local government shall, when investigating a crime, inquire into the immigration status of any person who reports that he is the victim of the crime or the parent or guardian of a minor victim, or is a cooperating witness in the criminal investigation or the parent or guardian of a minor witness. The bill does not prohibit a law-enforcement officer from inquiring into the immigration status of a victim or witness who has been arrested or charged with a criminal violation, or when such inquiry is required by federal law or is essential to the investigation or prosecution of the crime to which the person is a witness or of which the person is a victim.

S.B. 488

Patron: Hurt

Witnesses in criminal trial.  Allows the attorney for the Commonwealth to designate, in felony cases, one investigative law-enforcement official who may remain in the courtroom, unless the court determines that his presence would impair the conduct of a fair trial.

S.B. 504

Patron: Smith

Forced or coerced abortion prohibited; penalty.  Provides that any person who forces or coerces a pregnant female of any age to have an abortion against her will is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. However, if such a violation is committed by the father or putative father of the unborn child when the pregnant female is less than 18 years of age and the father or putative father is 18 years of age or older, the father or putative father is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

S.B. 531

Patron: McDougle

Fees for attorneys for the Commonwealth in criminal cases. Increases from $15 to $40 the fee that an attorney for the Commonwealth may receive for a felony case, and from $5 to $15 the fee that an attorney for the Commonwealth may receive for a misdemeanor case.

S.B. 532

Patron: McDougle

Prohibition on wearing a mask; public emergency exception. Adds to the existing exemptions in the section making it a Class 6 felony for a person over the age of 16 to wear a mask in public or on private property without the owner's written consent an exception when the Governor has declared a disaster or state of emergency in response to a public health emergency.