Senate Bill No. 701
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[Originating in the Committee on Finance;
Reported March 3, 1999.];
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A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article five, chapter
seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to driving under the
influence; and providing criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article five, chapter seventeen-c of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. SERIOUS TRAFFIC OFFENSES.
§17C-5-2. Driving under influence of alcohol, controlled
substances or drugs; penalties.
(a) Any person who:
(1) Drives a vehicle in this state while:
(A) He is under the influence of alcohol; or
(B) He is under the influence of any controlled substance; or
(C) He is under the influence of any other drug; or
(D) He is under the combined influence of alcohol and any
controlled substance or any other drug; or
(E) He has an alcohol concentration in his or her blood of ten
hundredths of one percent or more, by weight; and
(2) When so driving does any act forbidden by law or fails to
perform any duty imposed by law in the driving of such vehicle,
which act or failure proximately causes the death of any person
within one year next following such act or failure; and
(3) Commits such act or failure in reckless disregard of the
safety of others, and when the influence of alcohol, controlled
substances or drugs is shown to be a contributing cause to such
death, shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary for not less than one nor
more than ten years and shall be fined not less than one thousand
dollars nor more than three thousand dollars.
(b) Any person who:
(1) Drives a vehicle in this state while:
(A) He is under the influence of alcohol; or
(B) He is under the influence of any controlled substance; or
(C) He is under the influence of any other drug; or
(D) He is under the combined influence of alcohol and any
controlled substance or any other drug; or
(E) He has an alcohol concentration in his or her blood of ten
hundredths of one percent or more, by weight; and
(2) When so driving does any act forbidden by law or fails to
perform any duty imposed by law in the driving of such vehicle,
which act or failure proximately causes the death of any person
within one year next following such act or failure, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail
for not less than ninety days nor more than one year and shall be
fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand
dollars.
(c) Any person who:
(1) Drives a vehicle in this state while:
(A) He is under the influence of alcohol; or
(B) He is under the influence of any controlled substance; or
(C) He is under the influence of any other drug; or
(D) He is under the combined influence of alcohol and any
controlled substance or any other drug; or
(E) He has an alcohol concentration in his or her blood of ten
hundredths of one percent or more, by weight; and
(2) When so driving does any act forbidden by law or fails to perform any duty imposed by law in the driving of such vehicle,
which act or failure proximately causes bodily injury to any person
other than himself, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be confined in jail for not less than one day nor
more than one year, which jail term shall include actual
confinement of not less than twenty-four hours, and shall be fined
not less than two hundred dollars nor more than one thousand
dollars.
(d) Any person who:
(1) Drives a vehicle in this state while:
(A) He is under the influence of alcohol; or
(B) He is under the influence of any controlled substance; or
(C) He is under the influence of any other drug; or
(D) He is under the combined influence of alcohol and any
controlled substance or any other drug; or
(E) He has an alcohol concentration in his or her blood of ten
hundredths of one percent or more, by weight;
(2) Is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be confined in jail for not less than one day nor more than
six months, which jail term shall include actual confinement of not
less than twenty-four hours, and shall be fined not less than one
hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars.
(e) Any person who, being an habitual user of narcotic drugs
or amphetamine or any derivative thereof, drives a vehicle in this
state, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be confined in jail for not less than one day nor more than
six months, which jail term shall include actual confinement of not
less than twenty-four hours, and shall be fined not less than one
hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars.
(f) Any person who:
(1) Knowingly permits his or her vehicle to be driven in this
state by any other person who is:
(A) Under the influence of alcohol; or
(B) Under the influence of any controlled substance; or
(C) Under the influence of any other drug; or
(D) Under the combined influence of alcohol and any controlled
substance or any other drug; or
(E) Has an alcohol concentration in his or her blood of ten
hundredths of one percent or more, by weight;
(2) Is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be confined in jail for not more than six months and shall be
fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred
dollars.
(g) Any person who:
Knowingly permits his or her vehicle to be driven in this
state by any other person who is an habitual user of narcotic drugs
or amphetamine or any derivative thereof, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail
for not more than six months and shall be fined not less than one
hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars.
(h) Any person under the age of twenty-one years who drives a
vehicle in this state while he or she has an alcohol concentration
in his or her blood of two hundredths of one percent or more, by
weight, but less than ten hundredths of one percent, by weight,
shall, for a first offense under this subsection, be guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars. For a
second or subsequent offense under this subsection, such person is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
confined in jail for twenty-four hours, and shall be fined not less
than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars. A
person who is charged with a first offense under the provisions of
this subsection may move for a continuance of the proceedings from
time to time to allow the person to participate in the vehicle
alcohol test and lock program as provided for in section three-a,
article five-a of this chapter. Upon successful completion of the program, the court shall dismiss the charge against the person and
expunge the person's record as it relates to the alleged offense.
In the event the person fails to successfully complete the program,
the court shall proceed to an adjudication of the alleged offense.
A motion for a continuance under this subsection shall not be
construed as an admission or be used as evidence.
A person arrested and charged with an offense under the
provisions of subsection (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g) or (i)
of this section may not also be charged with an offense under this
subsection arising out of the same transaction or occurrence.
(i) Any person who:
(1) Drives a vehicle in this state while:
(A) He is under the influence of alcohol; or
(B) He is under the influence of any controlled substance; or
(C) He is under the influence of any other drug; or
(D) He is under the combined influence of alcohol and any
controlled substance or any other drug; or
(E) He has an alcohol concentration in his or her blood of ten
hundredths of one percent or more, by weight; and
(2) The person when so driving has on or within the motor
vehicle one or more other persons who are unemancipated minors who
have not reached their sixteenth birthday, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in
jail for not less than two days nor more than twelve months, which
jail term shall include actual confinement of not less than
forty-eight hours, and shall be fined not less than two hundred
dollars nor more than one thousand dollars.
(j) A person violating any provision of subsection (b), (c),
(d), (e), (f), (g) or (i) of this section shall, for the second
offense under this section, be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for a period of not
less than six months nor more than one year, and the court may, in
its discretion, impose a fine of not less than one thousand dollars
nor more than three thousand dollars.
(k) A person violating any provision of subsection (b), (c),
(d), (e), (f), (g) or (i) of this section shall, for the third or
any subsequent offense under this section, be guilty of a felony,
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the
penitentiary for not less than one nor more than three years, and
the court may, in its discretion, impose a fine of not less than
three thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars.
(l) For purposes of subsections (j) and (k) of this section
relating to second, third and subsequent offenses, the following
types of convictions shall be regarded as convictions under this section:
(1) Any conviction under the provisions of subsection (a),
(b), (c), (d), (e) or (f) of the prior enactment of this section
for an offense which occurred on or after the first day of
September, one thousand nine hundred eighty-one, and prior to the
effective date of this section;
(2) Any conviction under the provisions of subsection (a) or
(b) of the prior enactment of this section for an offense which
occurred within a period of five years immediately preceding the
first day of September, one thousand nine hundred eighty-one; and
(3) Any conviction under a municipal ordinance of this state
or any other state or a statute of the United States or of any
other state of an offense which has the same elements as an offense
described in subsection (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) or (g) of this
section, which offense occurred after the tenth day of June, one
thousand nine hundred eighty-three.
(m) A person may be charged in a warrant or indictment or
information for a second or subsequent offense under this section
if the person has been previously arrested for or charged with a
violation of this section which is alleged to have occurred within
the applicable time periods for prior offenses, notwithstanding the
fact that there has not been a final adjudication of the charges for the alleged previous offense. In such case, the warrant or
indictment or information must set forth the date, location and
particulars of the previous offense or offenses. No person may be
convicted of a second or subsequent offense under this section
unless the conviction for the previous offense has become final.
(n) The fact that any person charged with a violation of
subsection (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) of this section, or any person
permitted to drive as described under subsection (f) or (g) of this
section, is or has been legally entitled to use alcohol, a
controlled substance or a drug shall not constitute a defense
against any charge of violating subsection (a), (b), (c), (d), (e),
(f) or (g) of this section.
(o) For purposes of this section, the term "controlled
substance" shall have the meaning ascribed to it in chapter sixty-a
of this code.
(p) The sentences provided herein upon conviction for a
violation of this article are mandatory and shall not be subject to
suspension or probation: Provided, That the court may apply the
provisions of article eleven-a, chapter sixty-two of this code to
a person sentenced or committed to a term of one year or less. An
order for home detention by the court pursuant to the provisions of
article eleven-b, chapter sixty-two of this code may be used as an alternative sentence to any period of incarceration required by
this section.