H. B. 4036
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates
Varner, Campbell, Stemple, Kominar, Amores,
Crosier, R. M. Thompson and Craig)
[Introduced January 17, 2006; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §61-2-3a, relating to
soliciting or advocating murder, providing criminal penalties
and specifying that the offenses and penalties are cumulative
to other offenses and penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §61-2-3a, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-3a. Soliciting murder; penalties; penalties cumulative.
(a) A person may not, with the intent that the crime be
committed:
(1) Solicit or advocate another person to commit or join in
the commission of murder; or
(2) Offer another person anything of pecuniary value as
consideration for inducing the other person to commit or join in
the commission of murder.
(b) As used in this section "anything of pecuniary value" means anything of value in the form of money, a negotiable
instrument, a commercial interest, or anything else the primary
significance of which is economic advantage.
(c)(1) A person who violates subsection (a) of this section is
guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than one hundred thousand dollars or imprisoned in a state
correctional facility for a definite term of imprisonment which is
not more than ten years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(2) A person who violates subsection (a) of this section, when
personal injury results from the violation, is guilty of a felony
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than two
hundred thousand dollars or imprisoned in a state correctional
facility for a definite term of imprisonment which is not more than
twenty years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(3) A person who violates subsection (a) of this section, when
death results from the violation, is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than three hundred
thousand dollars and imprisoned in a state correctional facility
for life and is not eligible for parole.
(4) The penalties imposed under subdivisions (1) and (2) of
this subsection shall be doubled when the suggested target of the
potential murder is a law-enforcement officer, as defined in
section one, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of this code.
(d) The offenses and penalties provided in this section are
cumulative and are in addition to any other offenses and penalties
provided by law.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide criminal
penalties for soliciting a person to commit murder.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.