WEST virginia legislature
2016 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
House Bill 2963
[BY DELEGATES WELD, B. WHITE, SOBONYA, FOLK, CAMPBELL AND BYRD]
[Introduced January 13, 2016; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact '61‑2‑14a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to criminal offense of kidnapping; making unlawful the taking or gaining custody of, confining or concealing another person by force or threat of force, or by duress, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation or enticement; and providing penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That '61‑2‑14a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
'61‑2‑14a. Kidnapping; penalty.
(a) Any person who unlawfully restrains another person with the intent:
(1) To hold another person for ransom, reward, or concession;
(2) To transport another person
with the intent to inflict bodily injury or to terrorize the victim or another
person; or
(3) To take or gain custody of, confine or conceal another person by duress, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation or enticement; or
(3) (4) To use
another person as a shield or hostage, shall be is guilty of a
felony and, upon conviction, shall be punished by confinement by the division
of corrections for life, and, notwithstanding the provisions of article twelve,
chapter sixty‑two of this code, shall is not be
eligible for parole.
(b) The following exceptions shall
apply to the penalty contained in subsection (a):
(1) A jury may, in their
discretion, recommend mercy, and if such the recommendation is
added to their verdict, such the person shall be is
eligible for parole in accordance with the provisions of said article twelve;
(2) If such the
person pleads guilty, the court may, in its discretion, provide that such
the person shall be is eligible for parole in accordance
with the provisions of said article twelve, and, if the court so provides, such
the person shall be is eligible for parole in accordance
with the provisions of said article twelve in the same manner and with like
effect as if such the person had been found guilty by the verdict
of a jury and the jury had recommended mercy;
(3) In all cases where the person against whom the offense is committed is returned, or is permitted to return, alive, without bodily harm having been inflicted upon him, but after ransom, money or other thing, or any concession or advantage of any sort has been paid or yielded, the punishment shall be confinement by the Division of Corrections for a definite term of years not less than twenty nor more than fifty; or
(4) In all cases where the person against whom the offense is committed is returned, or is permitted to return, alive, without bodily harm having been inflicted upon him or her, but without ransom, money or other thing, or any concession or advantage of any sort having been paid or yielded, the punishment shall be confinement by the Division of Corrections for a definite term of years not less than ten nor more than thirty.
(c) For purposes of this section: "To use another as a hostage" means to seize or detain and threaten to kill or injure another in order to compel, a third person or a governmental organization to do or abstain from doing any legal act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the person detained.
(d) Notwithstanding any other
provision of this section, if a violation of this section is committed by a
family member of a minor abducted or held hostage and he or she is not
motivated by monetary purposes, but rather intends to conceal, take, remove the
child or refuse to return the child to his or her lawful guardian in the
belief, mistaken or not, that it is in the child's interest to do so, he or she
shall be is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, be
confined in a correctional facility for not less than one or more than five
years or fined not more than $1,000, or both.
(e) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, where a law‑enforcement agency of this state or a political subdivision thereof receives a complaint that a violation of the provisions of this section has occurred, the receiving law‑enforcement agency shall notify any other law‑enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the offense, including, but not limited to, the state police and each agency so notified, shall cooperate in the investigation forthwith.
(f) It shall be is a
defense to a violation of subsection (d) of this section, that the accused's action
was necessary to preserve the welfare of the minor child and the accused
promptly reported his or her actions to a person with lawful custody of the
minor, to law‑enforcement or to Child Protective Services Division of the
Department of Health and Human Resources.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to expand the definition of kidnaping to include taking or gaining custody of, confining or concealing another person by force or threat of force; or by duress, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation or enticement.
Strike‑throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.