HOUSE BILL REPORT

                  HB 1636

             As Reported By House Committee On:

                        Law & Justice

Title:  An act relating to the crime of harassment.

Brief Description:  Specifying imminence of threat to bodily harm for crime of harassment.

Sponsors:  Representatives Ballasiotes, Costa, Tokuda, Keiser, Ogden and Blalock.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:

Law & Justice:  2/27/97 [DP].

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON LAW & JUSTICE

Majority Report:  Do pass.  Signed by 13 members:  Representatives Sheahan, Chairman; McDonald, Vice Chairman; Sterk, Vice Chairman; Costa, Ranking Minority Member; Constantine, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Carrell; Cody; Kenney; Lambert; Lantz; Radcliff; Sherstad and Skinner.

Staff:  Trudes Hutcheson (786-7384).

Background:  There are several ways a person can commit the crime of harassment.  A person is guilty of harassment if:  (a) without lawful authority, the person knowingly threatens to cause bodily injury in the future to the person threatened or to any other person; and (b) the person places the other person in reasonable fear that the threat will be carried out.  Harassment is usually a gross misdemeanor.  It is a felony if the person harasses another by threatening to kill that person or any other person.

Recently, an appellate court interpreting the language in the harassment statute determined that a threat to cause immediate harm can constitute an assault, but not harassment, because harassment requires a threat to cause harm in the future.  City of Seattle v. Allen.  The court stated that, to prove harassment the prosecutor must prove that the threat was to cause injury at a different time or place than the time or place where the offender made the threat. 

Under Allen, a threat to kill immediately probably would not constitute felony harassment.  Depending upon the circumstances, a threat to kill immediately could be charged as assault in the fourth degree, a gross misdemeanor, or a higher degree of assault.  A person who threatens another with a deadly weapon would probably be charged with assault in the second degree, a class B felony.

Summary of Bill:  Criminal harassment includes a threat to cause bodily injury immediately or in the future.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  Because of the Allen case, threats to kill immediately are not chargeable as felonies, but instead must be charged as misdemeanor assaults.  This is primarily a housecleaning bill.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Lieutenant Debbie Allen, Seattle Police Department (pro); and Robin Fox, King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office and Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (pro).