WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
By
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to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL to amend and
reenact §61-5-17 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to
penalties incurred from obstructing, fleeing from and making false statements
to law-enforcement, probation and parole officers and interfering with
emergency communications; and amending the penalties for several of the
violations to make it clear that the convicted person may be fined and
confined.
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; interfering with emergency communications;
penalties; definitions.
(a) A person who by
threats, menaces, acts or otherwise forcibly or illegally hinders or obstructs
or attempts to hinder or obstruct a 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 jail not more than one year, or both fined and
confined.
(b) A person who
intentionally disarms or attempts to disarm a law-enforcement officer,
correctional 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 a state correctional facility not less than one nor more than
five years.
(c) A 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 nor more than $200, or confined in jail for five
days, or both fined and confined. The provisions of this section 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 purposes of this subsection, “law-enforcement officer” does not
include a watchman, a member of the West Virginia State Police or college
security personnel who is not a certified law-enforcement officer.
(d) A person who
intentionally flees or attempts to flee by any means other than the use of a
vehicle from a 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 jail not more than one year, or both fined and confined.
(e) A person who
intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from a 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 and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 and shall be confined in
a regional jail not more than one year.
(f) A person who
intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from a 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 operates the vehicle in a manner showing a reckless
indifference to the safety of others, is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $1,000 nor more than $2,000
and shall be imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less than one nor
more than five years.
(g) A person who
intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from a 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 a
person during or resulting from his or her flight, is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $1,000 nor more than
$3,000 and shall be confined in jail for not less than six months nor more than
one year.
(h) A person who
intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from a 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 a 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
three nor more than ten years.
(i) A person who
intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from a 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 a 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 for not less than five nor more
than fifteen years. A person imprisoned
pursuant to 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
section thirteen, article twelve, chapter sixty-two of this code, whichever is
greater.
(j) A person who
intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from a 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, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less than three nor more
than ten years.
(k) 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.
(l) For purposes of this
section, the terms “flee”, “fleeing” and “flight” do not include a 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.
(m) The revisions to
subsections (e), (f), (g) and (h) of this section enacted during the regular
session of the 2010 regular legislative session shall be known as the Jerry
Alan Jones Act.
(n) (1) No person, with the
intent to purposefully deprive another person of emergency services, may
interfere with or prevent another person from making an emergency
communication, which a reasonable person would consider necessary under the
circumstances, to law-enforcement, fire, or emergency medical service
personnel.
(2) For the purpose of this
subsection, the term “interfere with or prevent” includes, but is not limited
to, seizing, concealing, obstructing access to or disabling or disconnecting a
telephone, telephone line or equipment or other communication device.
(3) For the purpose of this
subsection, the term “emergency communication” means communication to transmit
warnings or other information pertaining to a crime, fire, accident, power
outage, disaster or risk of injury or damage to a person or property.
(4) A person who violates
this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be confined in jail for a period of not less than one day nor more than one
year and or shall be fined not less than $250 nor more than $2,000, or both fined
and confined.
(5) A person who is
convicted of a second offense under this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for not less than three
months nor more than one year and or fined not less than $500 nor more than
$3,000, or both fined and confined.
(6) A person who is
convicted of a third or subsequent offense under this subsection is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail not less
than six months nor more than one year and or fined not less than $500 nor more
than $4,000, or both fined and confined.
(7) In determining the
number of prior convictions for purposes of imposing punishment under this
subsection, the court shall disregard all such prior convictions occurring more
than ten years prior to the offense in question.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to amend the penalties for several of the violations under this section to make
it clear that the convicted person may be fined and confined. The offenses include obstructing, fleeing
from and making false statements to law-enforcement, probation and parole
officers and interfering with emergency communications.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.