Report Title:

Home Invasion; Enhanced Penalties

Description:

Adds crimes involving home invasion of the elderly and single women to criteria for extended terms of imprisonment.

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2709

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO HOME INVASION.

 

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that home invasions are becoming increasingly common in Hawaii. A home invasion is an act of breaking into the dwelling of another and physically harming the occupants therein or taking their property, or both. According to the department of the attorney general, the current practice is to bring a criminal charge for the targeted offense, which is usually the crime that is the purpose of the home invasion. Therefore, statistics on the occurrence of home invasions are not maintained.

The legislature further finds that the elderly and women living alone are particularly vulnerable to a home invasion. In particular, they are least able to defend themselves when confronted by the perpetrator.

The purpose of this Act is to provide enhanced penalties for offenses against the person or property of another in circumstances involving a home invasion against the elderly or single women.

SECTION 2. 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[.]; provided that an offense against the elderly that involves a home invasion shall be sentenced under paragraph (7). 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

(c) Such disability is known or reasonably should be known to the defendant.

(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 crime involves a home invasion. "Home invasion" means the act of intentionally and unlawfully entering or remaining in the dwelling of an elderly person who is sixty-five years of age or older, or who is a woman living alone without regard to the age of the woman, while the elderly person or woman is present in the dwelling, with the intent to commit a crime therein that is a felony under parts I to V of chapter 707 or under parts II to V of chapter 708, and the defendant:

(a) Is armed with a dangerous instrument, as defined in section 707-700; provided that in the case of an elderly person, the defendant's arm, hand, leg, or feet may constitute a dangerous instrument, which shall be a question of fact to be determined by the judge or jury; and

(b) Causes or threatens to cause bodily injury, serious bodily injury, or substantial bodily injury, as defined in section 707-700, to the elderly person or the woman.

For purposes of this paragraph, it shall be irrelevant whether the defendant had prior knowledge of the age of the elderly person or of the living status of the woman in the dwelling, or whether the victim arrived in the dwelling after the entry but while the perpetrator was present in the dwelling."

SECTION 3. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun, before its effective date.

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________