2016 -- H 8024

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- ASSAULTS

     Introduced By: Representatives Azzinaro, Corvese, Malik, Fellela, and Messier

     Date Introduced: March 31, 2016

     Referred To: House Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 11-5-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-5 entitled "Assaults" is

hereby amended to read as follows:

     11-5-5. Assault of police officers and other officials. -- Any person who shall make an

assault or battery, or both, by knowingly and willfully either (1) striking, or (2) spraying with a

noxious chemical, commonly used as a personal defense weapon, including Mace and an

oleoresin capsicum product or like products, on a uniformed member of the United States Armed

Forces or a uniformed member of the state police or metropolitan park police, environmental

police officer, state properties patrol officer, probation and parole officers, state government case

worker or investigator, judge of the supreme, superior, family, district court, traffic tribunal or

municipal court, deputy sheriff, city or town police officer or firefighter, member of the capitol

police, member of campus security force of state colleges and universities, member of the Rhode

Island airport police department, member of the Rhode Island fugitive task force, Rhode Island

public transit authority bus driver, or on-duty plainclothes member of the town, city, or state

police force, investigator of the department of the attorney general appointed pursuant to § 42-9-

8.1, or member of the railroad police after proper identification is displayed, or uniformed dog

officer, or out-of-state police officer called into Rhode Island under a cooperative agreement to

provide mutual aid at the request of the state of Rhode Island pursuant to chapter 37 of title 42, or

assistant attorney general or special assistant attorney general, or employees of the department of

environmental management responsible for administrative inspections or any constable

authorized by chapter 45-16 of the Rhode Island general law causing bodily injury while the

officer or official is engaged in the performance of his or her duty, shall be deemed to have

committed a felony, and shall be imprisoned not exceeding three (3) years, or fined not exceeding

fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500), or both.

     SECTION 2. Section 11-23-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-23 entitled "Homicide"

is hereby amended to read as follows:

     11-23-1. Murder. -- The unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought is

murder. Every murder perpetrated by poison, lying in wait, or any other kind of willful,

deliberate, malicious, and premeditated killing, or committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to

perpetrate, any arson or any violation of § 11-4-2, 11-4-3, or 11-4-4, rape, any degree of sexual

assault or child molestation, burglary or breaking and entering, robbery, kidnapping, or

committed during the course of the perpetration, or attempted perpetration, of felony

manufacture, sale, delivery, or other distribution of a controlled substance otherwise prohibited

by the provisions of chapter 28 of title 21, or committed against any law enforcement officer in

the performance of his or her duty or committed against an assistant attorney general or special

assistant attorney general in the performance of his or her duty, or committed against any

uniformed member of the United States Armed Forces in the performance of their duty, or

perpetrated from a premeditated design unlawfully and maliciously to effect the death of any

human being other than him or her who is killed, is murder in the first degree. Any other murder

is murder in the second degree. The degree of murder may be charged in the indictment or

information, and the jury may find the degree of murder, whether the murder is charged in the

indictment or information or not, or may find the defendant guilty of a lesser offense than that

charged in the indictment or information, in accordance with the provisions of § 12-17-14.

     SECTION 3. Sections 11-47-3.2 and 11-47-20.3 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-47

entitled "Weapons" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     11-47-3.2. Using a firearm when committing a crime of violence. -- (a) No person

shall use a firearm while committing or attempting to commit a crime of violence. Every person

violating the provisions of this section shall be punished: (1) for the first offense by imprisonment

for ten (10) years; however, if the violation was committed by use of a machine gun as defined in

section 11-47-2(6), the term of imprisonment shall be thirty (30) years; (2) for a second

conviction under this section by imprisonment for twenty (20) years; however, if the violation

was committed by use of a machine gun as defined in section 11-47-2(6), the term of

imprisonment shall be life; and (3) for a third or subsequent conviction, the person shall be

sentenced to life, or life without the possibility of parole by the sentencing judge after

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consideration of aggravating and mitigating circumstances contained in §§ 12-19.2-3 and 12-

19.2-4. Any sentence imposed upon a person pursuant to this section shall be imposed

consecutively to and not concurrently with any sentence imposed for the underlying crime or

attempted crime, and the person shall not be afforded the benefits of deferment of sentence or

parole; provided, that unless sentenced to life without the possibility of parole pursuant to

subdivision (3) of this subsection, a person sentenced to life under this section may be granted

parole.

      (b) Every person who, while committing an offense violating subsection (a) of this

section, discharges a firearm shall be guilty of a felony and be imprisoned as follows:

      (1) Ten (10) years, if no injury to any other person results from the discharge;

      (2) Twenty (20) years, if a person other than a police officer is injured by the discharge

of the firearm, or if a police officer or a uniformed member of the United States Armed Forces

who is engaged in the performance of his or her duty is deliberately endangered by the person's

discharge of the firearm;

      (3) Life, if a police officer or a uniformed member of the United States Armed Forces

who is engaged in the performance of his or her duty is injured by the discharge of the firearm;

and

      (4) Life, if the death or permanent incapacity of any person (other than the person

convicted) results from the discharge of the firearm; provided that, involuntary manslaughter

shall not be considered a "crime of violence" for the purpose of subdivision (b)(4) only.

      (c) The penalties defined in subsection (b) of this section shall run consecutively, and not

concurrently, to any other sentence imposed and, notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 8 of

title 13, the person shall not be afforded the benefits of deferment of sentence or parole; provided,

that a person sentenced to life under subdivision (b)(3) or (b)(4) of this section may be granted

parole.

     11-47-20.3. Injury or death of law enforcement officer. -- Any person who uses bullets

as defined in § 11-47-20.1 in the shooting of any law enforcement officer or any uniformed

member of the United States Armed Forces acting in the performance of his or her official duties

so as to cause injury or death to the officer or uniformed member of the United States Armed

Forces shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to life imprisonment.

     SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- ASSAULTS

***

     This act would recognize members of the United States Armed Forces as a group in

assaults on police officers and officials. It would also be considered murder in the first degree

whereby any member of the United States Armed Forces is killed in the performance of their

duty. If any member of the United States Armed Forces is deliberately endangered or injured by

the discharge of a firearm, the person committing the offense would be guilty of a felony. Lastly,

any person who uses a bullet to cause injury or death to any member of the United States Armed

Forces would be sentenced to life imprisonment.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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