BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to the swift and certain punishment of individuals convicted of committing a terrorist act that results in the death of an innocent person; amending RCW 9A.32.030, 9A.32.050, 10.95.020, and 10.95.030; adding a new section to chapter 9A.32 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 10.95 RCW; creating new sections; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that acts of terrorism are increasing at an alarming rate around the world and within the United States. As a result hundreds, even thousands, of innocent civilians are being needlessly maimed and killed and millions of dollars of private and public assets are being senselessly ruined. Acts of terrorism and those who commit such crimes must not and should not be tolerated. Swift and certain punishment of those who take the lives of innocent men, women, and children and destroy their property is not only appropriate, but essential in maintaining public order, securing the safety of our citizens and their possessions, and ensuring that justice is done.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 9A.32 RCW to read as follows:

For the purposes of this chapter, "terrorist act" means an act of violence or an act dangerous to human life, including but not limited to murder, assault, assassination, and kidnapping, that is a violation of the laws of the United States or of any state and that is intended to: (1) Intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (2) influence the policy of a branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion; (3) affect the conduct of a branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion; or (4) retaliate against a branch or level of government for a policy or conduct of the government.

Sec. 3. RCW 9A.32.030 and 1990 c 200 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A person is guilty of murder in the first degree when:

(a) He or she commits or attempts to commit a terrorist act and thereby causes the death of an innocent person; or

(b) With a premeditated intent to cause the death of another person, he or she causes the death of such person or of a third person; or

((~~(b)~~)) (c) Under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to human life, he or she engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to any person, and thereby causes the death of a person; or

((~~(c)~~)) (d) He or she commits or attempts to commit the crime of either (1) robbery in the first or second degree, (2) rape in the first or second degree, (3) burglary in the first degree, (4) arson in the first or second degree, or (5) kidnapping in the first or second degree, and in the course of or in furtherance of such crime or in immediate flight therefrom, he or she, or another participant, causes the death of a person other than one of the participants: Except that in any prosecution under this ((~~subdivision (1)(c)~~)) subsection (1)(d) in which the defendant was not the only participant in the underlying crime, if established by the defendant by a preponderance of the evidence, it is a defense that the defendant:

(i) Did not commit the homicidal act or in any way solicit, request, command, importune, cause, or aid the commission thereof; and

(ii) Was not armed with a deadly weapon, or any instrument, article, or substance readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury; and

(iii) Had no reasonable grounds to believe that any other participant was armed with such a weapon, instrument, article, or substance; and

(iv) Had no reasonable grounds to believe that any other participant intended to engage in conduct likely to result in death or serious physical injury.

(2) Murder in the first degree is a class A felony.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 10.95 RCW to read as follows:

A person who is guilty of murder in the first degree as a result of committing or attempting to commit a terrorist act as defined in section 2 of this act is guilty of aggravated first degree murder and must be sentenced to death and the special sentencing provisions of RCW 10.95.050 through 10.95.080 shall not apply.

Sec. 5. RCW 9A.32.050 and 1975-'76 2nd ex.s. c 38 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A person is guilty of murder in the second degree when:

(a) With intent to cause the death of another person but without premeditation, he or she causes the death of such person or of a third person; or

(b) He or she commits or attempts to commit any felony other than those enumerated in RCW 9A.32.030(1)((~~(c)~~)) (d), and, in the course of and in furtherance of such crime or in immediate flight therefrom, he or she, or another participant, causes the death of a person other than one of the participants; except that in any prosecution under this ((~~subdivision~~)) subsection (1)(b) in which the defendant was not the only participant in the underlying crime, if established by the defendant by a preponderance of the evidence, it is a defense that the defendant:

(i) Did not commit the homicidal act or in any way solicit, request, command, importune, cause, or aid the commission thereof; and

(ii) Was not armed with a deadly weapon, or any instrument, article, or substance readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury; and

(iii) Had no reasonable grounds to believe that any other participant was armed with such a weapon, instrument, article, or substance; and

(iv) Had no reasonable grounds to believe that any other participant intended to engage in conduct likely to result in death or serious physical injury.

(2) Murder in the second degree is a class A felony.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 10.95 RCW to read as follows:

(1) All sentence reviews, appeals, or collateral attacks arising from a conviction under RCW 9A.32.030(1)(a) shall be consolidated and shall be filed with the appropriate court within three months from the date the lower court has rendered its judgment or decision or within the time period established by court rule, whichever is earliest.

(2) A court shall expedite all sentence reviews, appeals, or collateral attacks arising from a conviction under RCW 9A.32.030(1)(a), shall accord first priority to hearing such reviews, appeals, or attacks, and shall render its judgment or decision within three months from the date the hearing is concluded or within the time period established by court rule, whichever is earliest.

(3) The secretary of the department of corrections shall ensure that a person whose conviction under RCW 9A.32.030(1)(a) or whose sentence of death has not been stayed or overturned by a court shall be put to death no later than three months from the date a court of final appeal has rendered its judgment or decision sustaining the conviction or sentence or refusing to stay or overturn the conviction or sentence or within the time period established by court rule, whichever is earliest.

Sec. 7. RCW 10.95.020 and 1994 c 121 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

A person is guilty of aggravated first degree murder if he or she commits first degree murder as defined by RCW 9A.32.030(1)((~~(a), as now or hereafter amended,~~)) (b) and one or more of the following aggravating circumstances exist:

(1) The victim was a law enforcement officer, corrections officer, or fire fighter who was performing his or her official duties at the time of the act resulting in death and the victim was known or reasonably should have been known by the person to be such at the time of the killing;

(2) At the time of the act resulting in the death, the person was serving a term of imprisonment, had escaped, or was on authorized or unauthorized leave in or from a state facility or program for the incarceration or treatment of persons adjudicated guilty of crimes;

(3) At the time of the act resulting in death, the person was in custody in a county or county-city jail as a consequence of having been adjudicated guilty of a felony;

(4) The person committed the murder pursuant to an agreement that he or she would receive money or any other thing of value for committing the murder;

(5) The person solicited another person to commit the murder and had paid or had agreed to pay money or any other thing of value for committing the murder;

(6) The victim was:

(a) A judge; juror or former juror; prospective, current, or former witness in an adjudicative proceeding; prosecuting attorney; deputy prosecuting attorney; defense attorney; a member of the indeterminate sentence review board; or a probation or parole officer; and

(b) The murder was related to the exercise of official duties performed or to be performed by the victim;

(7) The person committed the murder to conceal the commission of a crime or to protect or conceal the identity of any person committing a crime;

(8) There was more than one victim and the murders were part of a common scheme or plan or the result of a single act of the person;

(9) The murder was committed in the course of, in furtherance of, or in immediate flight from one of the following crimes:

(a) Robbery in the first or second degree;

(b) Rape in the first or second degree;

(d) Kidnapping in the first degree; or

(e) Arson in the first degree;

(10) The victim was regularly employed or self-employed as a newsreporter and the murder was committed to obstruct or hinder the investigative, research, or reporting activities of the victim;

(11) The murder was committed in the course of, in furtherance of, or in immediate flight from a terrorist act as defined in section 2 of this act.

Sec. 8. RCW 10.95.030 and 1993 c 479 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section or for a person convicted under RCW 9A.32.030(1)(a), any person convicted of the crime of aggravated first degree murder shall be sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of release or parole. A person sentenced to life imprisonment under this section shall not have that sentence suspended, deferred, or commuted by any judicial officer and the indeterminate sentence review board or its successor may not parole such prisoner nor reduce the period of confinement in any manner whatsoever including but not limited to any sort of good‑time calculation. The department of social and health services or its successor or any executive official may not permit such prisoner to participate in any sort of release or furlough program.

(2) If, pursuant to a special sentencing proceeding held under RCW 10.95.050, the trier of fact finds that there are not sufficient mitigating circumstances to merit leniency, the sentence shall be death. In no case, however, shall a person be sentenced to death if the person was mentally retarded at the time the crime was committed, under the definition of mental retardation set forth in (a) of this subsection. A diagnosis of mental retardation shall be documented by a licensed psychiatrist or licensed psychologist designated by the court, who is an expert in the diagnosis and evaluation of mental retardation. The defense must establish mental retardation by a preponderance of the evidence and the court must make a finding as to the existence of mental retardation.

(a) "Mentally retarded" means the individual has: (i) Significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning; (ii) existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior; and (iii) both significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning and deficits in adaptive behavior were manifested during the developmental period.

(b) "General intellectual functioning" means the results obtained by assessment with one or more of the individually administered general intelligence tests developed for the purpose of assessing intellectual functioning.

(d) "Adaptive behavior" means the effectiveness or degree with which individuals meet the standards of personal independence and social responsibility expected for his or her age.

(e) "Developmental period" means the period of time between conception and the eighteenth birthday.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. This act may be known and cited as the antiterrorist and public safety act of 1995.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, morals, and safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately.