HB2240 HFIN FBM                                HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

FLOOR BOOK MEMO

COM. SUB. FOR HOUSE BILL 2240 (STRANGULATION)

Sponsors:   Delegates Kurcaba, Fleischauer, Statler, Householder, Espinosa, Moffatt, Summers, Blair, Hicks, Byrd and Upson

Attorney:    McO   / Assistant:

Date:           February 21, 2015

Title:           OK

Fiscal Note:          Yes

Code:          §61-2-9 (amend)

                    §61-8B-1 & -3 (amend)

Purpose: The bill, which on 1^st reference was reported by the Committee on the Judiciary as a committee substitute, would modify the current law describing the crimes known as “malicious wounding” and “unlawful wounding” by inserting the word “strangle” as follows:

Malicious Wounding - “If any person maliciously shoot, stab, cut, strangle or wound any person, or by any means cause him or her bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill, he or she . . . . is guilty of a felony . . . .”

Unlawful Wounding - “If the act is done unlawfully, but not maliciously, with the intent aforesaid, the offender is guilty of a felony . . . .”

          The bill would also modify the current law describing the crime known as 1^st Degree Sexual Assault by inserting the word “strangle” as follows:

1^st Degree Sexual Assault - “A person is guilty of sexual assault in the first degree when:

          (1) The person engages in sexual intercourse or sexual intrusion with another person and, in so doing:

          (A) Strangles, . . . or, inflicts serious bodily injury upon anyone . . . .

          (b) Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a felony . . . .”

          In each of these instances, the terms “strangle” and “strangles” have the same meaning: “intentionally, knowingly and recklessly impeding the normal breathing or circulation of the blood of a person by applying pressure to the throat or neck.”

COMMITTEE ACTION: The bill was reported without amendment.

Effective Date:     Regular