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H.B. 270
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FELONY MURDER AMENDMENTS
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2000 GENERAL SESSION
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STATE OF UTAH
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Sponsor: John E. Swallow
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AN ACT RELATING TO THE CRIMINAL CODE; AMENDING THE FELONY MURDER
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STATUTE TO INCLUDE CLANDESTINE LAB OFFENSES AND ESCAPE AS PREDICATE
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CRIMES IN ESTABLISHING FELONY MURDER RESPONSIBILITY.
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This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
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AMENDS:
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76-5-203, as last amended by Chapters 2 and 90, Laws of Utah 1999
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Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
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Section 1.
Section
76-5-203
is amended to read:
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76-5-203. Murder.
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(1) As used in this section, "predicate offense" means:
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(a) violation of Section
58-37d-4
or
58-37d-5
, Clandestine Drug Lab Act;
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(b) child abuse, under Subsection
76-5-109
(2)(a), when the victim is younger than 18 years
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of age;
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(c) kidnapping under Section
76-5-301
;
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(d) child kidnapping under Section
76-5-301.1
;
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(e) aggravated kidnapping under Section
76-5-302
;
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(f) rape of a child under Section
76-5-402.1
;
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(g) object rape of a child under Section
76-5-402.3
;
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(h) sodomy upon a child under Section
76-5-403.1
;
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(i) forcible sexual abuse under Section
76-5-404
;
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(j) sexual abuse of a child or aggravated sexual abuse of a child under Section
76-5-404.1
;
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(k) rape under Section
76-5-402
;
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(l) object rape under Section
76-5-402.2
;
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(m) forcible sodomy under Section
76-5-403
;
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(n) aggravated sexual assault under Section
76-5-405
;
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(o) arson under Section
76-6-102
;
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(p) aggravated arson under Section
76-6-103
;
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(q) burglary under Section
76-6-202
;
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(r) aggravated burglary under Section
76-6-203
;
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(s) robbery under Section
76-6-301
;
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(t) aggravated robbery under Section
76-6-302
; or
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(u) escape or aggravated escape under Section
76-8-309
.
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[(1)] (2) Criminal homicide constitutes murder if [the actor]:
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(a) the actor intentionally or knowingly causes the death of another;
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(b) intending to cause serious bodily injury to another, the actor commits an act clearly
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dangerous to human life that causes the death of another;
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(c) acting under circumstances evidencing a depraved indifference to human life, the actor
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engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to another and thereby causes the death of
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another;
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(d) [while] (i) the actor is engaged in the commission, attempted commission, or
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immediate flight from the commission or attempted commission of [aggravated robbery, robbery,
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rape, object rape, forcible sodomy, or aggravated sexual assault, aggravated arson, arson,
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aggravated burglary, burglary, aggravated kidnapping, kidnapping, child kidnapping, rape of a
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child, object rape of a child, sodomy upon a child, forcible sexual abuse, sexual abuse of a child,
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aggravated sexual abuse of a child, or child abuse, as defined in Subsection
76-5-109
(2)(a), when
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the victim is younger than 14 years of age, causes the death of another person other than a party
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as defined in Section
76-2-202
;] any predicate offense, or is a party to the predicate offense; and
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(ii) a person other than a party as defined in Section
76-2-202
is killed in the course of the
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commission, attempted commission, or immediate flight from the commission or attempted
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commission of any predicate offense;
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(e) the actor recklessly causes the death of a peace officer while in the commission or
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attempted commission of:
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(i) an assault against a peace officer [as defined in] under Section
76-5-102.4
; or
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(ii) interference with a peace officer while making a lawful arrest [as defined in] under
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Section
76-8-305
if the actor uses force against a peace officer;
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(f) commits a homicide which would be aggravated murder, but the offense is reduced
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pursuant to Subsection
76-5-202
(3); or
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(g) the actor commits aggravated murder, but special mitigation is established under
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Section
76-5-205.5
.
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[(2)] (3) Murder is a first degree felony.
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[(3)] (4) (a) It is an affirmative defense to a charge of murder or attempted murder that the
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defendant caused the death of another or attempted to cause the death of another:
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(i) under the influence of extreme emotional distress for which there is a reasonable
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explanation or excuse; or
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(ii) under a reasonable belief that the circumstances provided a legal justification or excuse
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for his conduct although the conduct was not legally justifiable or excusable under the existing
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circumstances.
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(b) Under Subsection [(3)] (4)(a)(i) emotional distress does not include:
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(i) a condition resulting from mental illness as defined in Section
76-2-305
; or
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(ii) distress that is substantially caused by the defendant's own conduct.
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(c) The reasonableness of an explanation or excuse under Subsection [(3)] (4)(a)(i) or the
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reasonable belief of the actor under Subsection [(3)] (4)(a)(ii) shall be determined from the
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viewpoint of a reasonable person under the then existing circumstances.
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(d) This affirmative defense reduces charges only as follows:
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(i) murder to manslaughter; and
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(ii) attempted murder to attempted manslaughter.
Legislative Review Note
as of 1-25-00 1:54 PM
A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.