H. B. 2239
(By Delegates Love, Kiss, Fantasia,
Given, Hall, Hunt and Kallai)
[Introduced January 25, 1995; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend article two, chapter sixty-one of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twelve-a, relating to the commission or attempted commission
of a crime while armed with a deadly weapon; penalty.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article two, chapter sixty-one of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twelve-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-12a. Crime committed while armed with a deadly weapon;
penalty.
Any person who commits or attempts to commit any felony
while armed with a firearm or other deadly weapon is guilty of a
felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than five, nor more than ten years, which
penalty may not be suspended, be subject to probation, or run
concurrently with any other sentence. The violation of the
provisions of this section constitute a separate crime and the
penalty provided herein is in addition to the penalty provided by
statute for the commission or attempted commission of a crime
without the use or possession of a firearm or other deadly
weapon. No person convicted under the provisions of this section
is eligible for parole until he has served at least three years
of his sentence. Any person under the age of eighteen years when
the offense was committed who is sentenced as a juvenile or as an
adult under the provisions of article five, chapter forty-nine of
this code for the crime set forth herein shall receive and serve
a minimum sentence of at last three years confinement in an
appropriate facility or institution, no part of which may be
suspended.
NOTE: This bill creates a mandatory sentence for using a
firearm or other deadly weapon in committing or attempting to
commit a crime by providing that use of a firearm or other deadly
weapon in committing another crime is of itself a separate crime.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.