Report Title:

Habitual Petty Offenders; Class C Felony

Description:

Makes 4th misdemeanor crime against a person a class C felony with a mandatory minimum 2-year sentence.

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2388

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO THE PENAL CODE.

 

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

SECTION 1. Section 706-663, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§706-663 Sentence of imprisonment for misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor. [After] (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), after consideration of the factors set forth in sections 706-606 and 706-621, the court may sentence a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor or a petty misdemeanor to imprisonment for a definite term to be fixed by the court and not to exceed one year in the case of a misdemeanor or thirty days in the case of a petty misdemeanor.

(2) A person who commits a misdemeanor offense against the person and who has been convicted three or more times of a misdemeanor offense against the person within ten years preceding the offense shall be guilty of a class C felony and shall be sentenced as provided in section 706-660; provided that whenever a court sentences a defendant under this subsection for an offense under section 707-733, the court shall order the defendant to participate in a sex offender assessment and, if recommended based on the assessment, participate in the sex offender treatment program established by chapter 353E; provided further that a person sentenced under this subsection shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment without the possibility of probation or parole for two years; provided further that a person sentenced under this subsection shall become subject to the parole procedure set forth in section 706-670 only upon expiration of the mandatory minimum term imposed under this subsection. For purposes of this subsection:

(a) "Misdemeanor offense against the person" means a misdemeanor offense under chapter 707 or physically abusing a family or household member under section 709-906;

(b) "Convicted three or more times" means that:

(i) A judgment on a verdict or a finding of guilty or on a plea of guilty or nolo contendere for a misdemeanor offense against the person; or

(ii) An adjudication of a minor for a law or probation violation that, if committed by an adult, would constitute a misdemeanor offense against the person,

has been entered against the person three or more times; provided that judgments or adjudications that, at the time of the instant offense, had been expunged by pardon, reversed, or set aside shall not be considered prior convictions for purposes of sentencing under this subsection."

SECTION 2. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun, before its effective date.

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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