HOUSE BILL REPORT

SSB 6467

BYSenate Committee on Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senators Talmadge, Nelson and Vognild)

Adding second degree arson as basis for first degree murder in certain cases.

House Committe on Judiciary

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (11)

      Signed by Representatives Appelwick, Chair; Belcher, Brough, Dellwo, Hargrove, Inslee, P. King, R. Meyers, Scott, Tate and Wineberry.

House Staff:Rob Lopez (786-7591)

                  Bill Perry (786-7123)

AS PASSED HOUSE MARCH 2, 1990

BACKGROUND:

Under the Washington Criminal Code, a person is guilty of murder in the first degree when he or she commits or attempts to commit one of several crimes, including arson in the first degree, and in the court of and in furtherance of the crime, or in immediate flight from the scene, he or she, or another participant, causes the death of a person other than one of the participants.

Arson in the first degree generally involves a greater manifest danger to human life or inhabited property than does arson in the second degree.

In 1989, the Washington Court of Appeals held that the death of a firefighter occurred in the course of but not in the furtherance of arson in the first degree, so that the arsonist could not be convicted of murder in the first degree.

SUMMARY:

A person is guilty of murder in the first degree when he or she commits or attempts to commit the crime of arson in the first degree, and in the course of or in furtherance of the crime, or in immediate flight from the scene, he or she, or another participant, causes the death of a person other than one of the participants.

A person who commits or attempts to commit arson in the second degree can be convicted of murder in the first degree under the same circumstances as a person who commits or attempts to commit arson in the first degree.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    No one.

House Committee - Testified Against:      No one.

House Committee - Testimony For:    None.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None.