BILL REQ. #:  H-4292.1 

Read first time 01/18/10.   Referred to Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness.

     AN ACT Relating to establishing the crime of rendering aggravated criminal assistance in the first degree involving murder in the first degree of any person; amending RCW 9A.76.050; adding a new section to chapter 9A.76 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 9A.76.050 and 1982 1st ex.s. c 47 s 20 are each amended to read as follows:
     As used in RCW 9A.76.070, 9A.76.080, ((and)) 9A.76.090, and section 2 of this act, a person "renders criminal assistance" if, with intent to prevent, hinder, or delay the apprehension or prosecution of another person who he knows has committed a crime or juvenile offense or is being sought by law enforcement officials for the commission of a crime or juvenile offense or has escaped from a detention facility, he:
     (1) Harbors or conceals such person; or
     (2) Warns such person of impending discovery or apprehension; or
     (3) Provides such person with money, transportation, disguise, or other means of avoiding discovery or apprehension; or
     (4) Prevents or obstructs, by use of force, deception, or threat, anyone from performing an act that might aid in the discovery or apprehension of such person; or
     (5) Conceals, alters, or destroys any physical evidence that might aid in the discovery or apprehension of such person; or
     (6) Provides such person with a weapon.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 9A.76 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A person is guilty of rendering aggravated criminal assistance in the first degree if he or she renders criminal assistance to a person who has committed or is being sought for murder in the first degree of any person and, if the person who has committed or is being sought for the offense were to be convicted or plead guilty of the offense, the person would become a persistent offender under the provisions of RCW 9.94A.570.
     (2)(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, rendering aggravated criminal assistance in the first degree is a class B felony.
     (b) Rendering aggravated criminal assistance in the first degree is a class C felony, if it is established by a preponderance of the evidence that the actor is a relative as defined in RCW 9A.76.060.