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                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 5834

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State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1989 Regular Session

By Senators Pullen, Rasmussen, Conner, Metcalf, Benitz, Amondson, Thorsness, Craswell and Lee

Read first time 2/9/89 and referred to Committee on  Law & Justice.

AN ACT Relating to felony plea agreements; adding new sections to chapter 9.94A RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     The legislature recognizes the necessity of plea agreements in criminal proceedings, but also recognizes that plea agreements reducing felony charges to misdemeanors or gross misdemeanors may have unanticipated effects that are detrimental to public safety.  One such effect is that misdemeanor convictions do not restrict an individual's right to purchase various types of firearms.  There have been persons who have been charged with several felonies that were reduced to misdemeanors by plea agreements, and the person's criminal history then contains no felony convictions.  Such persons are then able to purchase certain firearms of types that would be prohibited to them had they been convicted of the original felony charges.  It is the intent of the legislature to restrict the authority of prosecutors to reduce certain felony charges, while still permitting the recommendation of sentencing at the misdemeanor level.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 9.94A RCW to read as follows:

          A prosecutor shall not reduce a felony charge to a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor when the facts of the case clearly indicate that the defendant committed the felony.  In such cases, the prosecutor may agree to recommend a sentence less than the standard sentence range for the felony by recommending a sentence at a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor range if the defendant enters a plea of guilty to the felony charge.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 9.94A RCW to read as follows:

          A prosecutor who enters into a plea agreement that violates section 2 of this act is personally liable for damages resulting from any crimes involving a firearm committed by a person who would not have been able to obtain the firearm had not a felony charge been reduced to less than a felony by a plea agreement entered into by that prosecutor.