HB2119

Report Title:

Domestic Violence; Sentencing

Description:

Requires court to consider seriousness of injury in sentencing in domestic violence cases, including consideration of extended term.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2119
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to sentencing.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Section 706-606, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§706-606 Factors to be considered in imposing a sentence. The court, in determining the particular sentence to be imposed, shall consider:

(1) The nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant;

(2) The need for the sentence imposed:

(a) To reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for law, and to provide just punishment for the offense;

(b) To afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct;

(d) To provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner;

(3) The kinds of sentences available; [~~and~~]

(4) The need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct[.]; and

(5) The need to punish and deter the defendant, if the victim is a family or household member, as defined in section 709-906, and the defendant caused serious bodily injury or substantial bodily injury, as defined in section 707-700, particularly if the defendant has a history of inflicting bodily injury, as defined in section 709-906, upon a family or household member, without regard to whether the defendant has been previously convicted for inflicting the injury."

SECTION 2. Section 706-661, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§706-661 Sentence of imprisonment for felony; extended terms. In the cases designated in section 706-662, a person who has been convicted of a felony may be sentenced to an extended indeterminate term of imprisonment. When ordering such a sentence, the court shall impose the maximum length of imprisonment which shall be as follows:

(1) For murder in the second degree--life without the possibility of parole;

(2) For a class A felony--indeterminate life term of imprisonment;

(3) For a class B felony--indeterminate twenty-year term of imprisonment; [~~and~~] provided that if the victim is a family or household member, as defined in section 709-906, and the defendant caused serious bodily injury or substantial bodily injury, as defined in section 707-700, particularly if the defendant has a history of inflicting bodily injury, as defined in section 709-906, upon a family or household member, without regard to whether the defendant has been previously convicted for inflicting the injury, the maximum length of imprisonment shall be an indeterminate twenty-year term of imprisonment; and

(4) For a class C felony--indeterminate ten-year term of imprisonment[.]; provided that if the victim is a family or household member, as defined in section 709-906, and the defendant caused serious bodily injury or substantial bodily injury, as defined in section 707-700, particularly if the defendant has a history of inflicting bodily injury, as defined in section 709-906, upon a family or household member, without regard to whether the defendant has been previously convicted for inflicting the injury, the maximum length of imprisonment shall be an indeterminate ten-year term of imprisonment.

The minimum length of imprisonment for [[]paragraphs[]] (2), (3), and (4) shall be determined by the Hawaii paroling authority in accordance with section 706-669."

SECTION 3. Section 706-662, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§706-662 Criteria for extended terms of imprisonment. A convicted defendant may be subject to an extended term of imprisonment under section 706-661, if the convicted defendant satisfies one or more of the following criteria:

(1) The defendant is a persistent offender whose imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless the defendant has previously been convicted of two felonies committed at different times when the defendant was eighteen years of age or older.

(2) The defendant is a professional criminal whose imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless:

(a) The circumstances of the crime show that the defendant has knowingly engaged in criminal activity as a major source of livelihood; or

(b) The defendant has substantial income or resources not explained to be derived from a source other than criminal activity.

(3) The defendant is a dangerous person whose imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless the defendant has been subjected to a psychiatric or psychological evaluation that documents a significant history of dangerousness to others resulting in criminally violent conduct, and this history makes the defendant a serious danger to others. Nothing in this section precludes the introduction of victim-related data in order to establish dangerousness in accord with the Hawaii rules of evidence.

(4) The defendant is a multiple offender whose criminal actions were so extensive that a sentence of imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless:

(a) The defendant is being sentenced for two or more felonies or is already under sentence of imprisonment for felony; or

(b) The maximum terms of imprisonment authorized for each of the defendant's crimes, if made to run consecutively would equal or exceed in length the maximum of the extended term imposed, or would equal or exceed forty years if the extended term imposed is for a class A felony.

(5) The defendant is an offender against the elderly, handicapped, or a minor under the age of eight, whose imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for the protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless:

(a) The defendant attempts or commits any of the following crimes: murder, manslaughter, a sexual offense that constitutes a felony under chapter 707, robbery, felonious assault, burglary, or kidnapping; and

(b) The defendant, in the course of committing or attempting to commit the crime, inflicts serious or substantial bodily injury upon a person who is:

(i) Sixty years of age or older;

(ii) Blind, a paraplegic, or a quadriplegic; or

(iii) Eight years of age or younger; and

(6) The defendant is a hate crime offender whose imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for the protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless:

(a) The defendant is convicted of a crime under chapter 707, 708, or 711; and

(b) The defendant intentionally selected a victim, or in the case of a property crime, the property that was the object of a crime, because of hostility toward the actual or perceived race, religion, disability, ethnicity, national origin, or sexual orientation of any person.

(7) The defendant caused serious bodily injury or substantial bodily injury, as defined in section 709-906, to a family or household member, as defined in section 709-906, particularly if the defendant has a history of inflicting bodily injury, as defined in section 709-906, upon a family or household member, without regard to whether the defendant has been previously convicted for inflicting the injury."

SECTION 4. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun, before its effective date.

SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________