COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B.4604
(By Delegates
Armstead, Miley, Iaquinta,
Walters, Fragale, Skaff, Cann and Lane
)
(Originating in the House Committee on the Judiciary)
[February 26, 2010]
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
months one year 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 Regular Session of the 2010 Regular
Legislative Session shall be known as the "Jerry Alan Jones Act."