H. B. 4098
(By Delegates Leach, Pino and Clements)
[Introduced January 27, 1998; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section ten-b, article two, chapter
sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to crimes against
the person; assaults and battery on enumerated persons;
extending protections of section to humane officers,
emergency medical technicians, firefighters and state and
county correctional employees; and dispensing with possible
penalty of incarceration for misdemeanor assault on
enumerated persons.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section ten-b, article two, chapter sixty-one of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-10b. Malicious assault; unlawful assault; battery and recidivism of battery; assault on police officers, conservation officers, humane officers,
emergency medical technicians, firefighters, and county or state correctional officers or employees; penalties.
(a)
Malicious assault. -- If any person maliciously shoots,
stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes bodily injury with
intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill a police officer,
county correctional officer
or employee or state correctional
officer
or employee acting in his or her official capacity and
the person committing the malicious assault knows or has reason
to know that the victim is a police officer, conservation
officer, humane officer, emergency medical technician,
firefighter, county correctional officer
or employee or state
correctional officer
or employee acting in his or her official
capacity,
then the offender shall be he or she is guilty of a
felony and, upon conviction, shall be
punished by confinement in
the penitentiary imprisoned in a correctional facility for not
less than three nor more than fifteen years.
(b)
Unlawful assault. -- If any person unlawfully but not
maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes
a police officer, conservation officer, county correctional officer
or employee acting in his or her official capacity or
state correctional officer
or employee bodily injury with intent
to maim, disfigure, disable or kill said officer and the person
committing the unlawful assault knows or has reason to know that
the victim is a police officer, conservation officer, county
correctional officer
or employee or state correctional officer
or
employee acting in his or her official capacity,
then the
offender he or she is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction,
shall be
confined to the penitentiary for a period of imprisoned
in a correctional facility for not less than two years nor more
than five years.
(c)
Battery. -- If any person unlawfully and intentionally
makes physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with
a police officer, conservation officer,
humane officer, emergency
medical technician, firefighter, county correctional officer
or
employee or state correctional officer
or employee acting in his
or her official capacity, or unlawfully and intentionally causes
physical harm to a police officer, conservation officer,
humane
officer, emergency medical technician, firefighter, county
correctional officer
or employee or state correctional officer
or
employee acting in such capacity,
said person he or she is guilty
of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined
to the county or regional jail
for not less than one month nor more than twelve months or fined the sum of five hundred dollars
or both fined and
imprisoned confined. If any person commits a
second such offense,
then such person he or she is guilty of a
felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in
the
state a correctional facility
for not less than one year nor more
than three years or fined the sum of one thousand dollars or both
fined and imprisoned. Any person who commits a third violation
of this subsection is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction,
shall be
confined in the state imprisoned in a correctional
facility not less than two years nor more than five years or
fined not more than two thousand dollars or both fined and
imprisoned.
(d)
Assault. -- If any person unlawfully attempts to commit a
violent injury to the person of a police officer, conservation
officer,
humane officer, emergency medical technician,
firefighter, county correctional officer
or employee or state
correctional officer
or employee, or unlawfully commits an act
which places a police officer, conservation officer,
humane
officer, emergency medical technician, firefighter, county
correctional officer
or employee or state correctional officer
or
employee acting in his or her official capacity in reasonable
apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury, he
or she
shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be
confined in the county or regional jail for not less than
twenty-four hours nor more than six months, or fined not more
than two hundred dollars.
or both such fine and imprisonment.
(e)
Police officer defined. -- As used in this section, a
police officer means any officer employed by the
division of
public safety state police, any county law-enforcement agency,
any officer employed by the state to perform law-enforcement
duties or any police officer employed by any city or municipality
who is responsible for the prevention or detection of crime and
the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of this
state.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to extend the protections
against assault provided by this section to state and county
correctional employees, humane officers, emergency medical
technicians and firefighters, in addition to state and county
correctional officers. It also would remove the possible penalty
of jail time of 24 hours to six months for conviction of
misdemeanor assault on any of the above persons.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.
This bill is recommended for passage in the 1998 session by
the Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and
Correctional Facility Authority.