BILL REQ. #: H-0977.1
State of Washington | 63rd Legislature | 2013 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/29/13. Referred to Committee on Judiciary.
AN ACT Relating to reducing criminal justice expenses by eliminating the death penalty in favor of life incarceration; amending RCW 10.95.030; and repealing RCW 10.95.040, 10.95.050, 10.95.060, 10.95.070, 10.95.080, 10.95.090, 10.95.100, 10.95.110, 10.95.120, 10.95.130, 10.95.140, 10.95.150, 10.95.160, 10.95.170, 10.95.180, 10.95.185, 10.95.190, 10.95.200, and 10.95.900.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 10.95.030 and 2010 c 94 s 3 are each amended to read
as follows:
(((1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section,)) 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 had an intellectual disability at the time the crime was
committed, under the definition of intellectual disability set forth in
(a) of this subsection. A diagnosis of intellectual disability shall
be documented by a licensed psychiatrist or licensed psychologist
designated by the court, who is an expert in the diagnosis and
evaluation of intellectual disabilities. The defense must establish an
intellectual disability by a preponderance of the evidence and the
court must make a finding as to the existence of an intellectual
disability.))
(a) "Intellectual disability" 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.
(c) "Significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning"
means intelligence quotient seventy or below.
(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. 2 The following acts or parts of acts are each
repealed:
(1) RCW 10.95.040 (Special sentencing proceeding -- Notice -- Filing--Service) and 1981 c 138 s 4;
(2) RCW 10.95.050 (Special sentencing proceeding -- When held -- Jury
to decide matters presented -- Waiver -- Reconvening same jury -- Impanelling
new jury -- Peremptory challenges) and 1981 c 138 s 5;
(3) RCW 10.95.060 (Special sentencing proceeding -- Jury
instructions -- Opening statements -- Evidence -- Arguments -- Question for
jury) and 1981 c 138 s 6;
(4) RCW 10.95.070 (Special sentencing proceeding -- Factors which
jury may consider in deciding whether leniency merited) and 2010 c 94
s 4, 1993 c 479 s 2, & 1981 c 138 s 7;
(5) RCW 10.95.080 (When sentence to death or sentence to life
imprisonment shall be imposed) and 1981 c 138 s 8;
(6) RCW 10.95.090 (Sentence if death sentence commuted, held
invalid, or if death sentence established by chapter held invalid) and
1981 c 138 s 9;
(7) RCW 10.95.100 (Mandatory review of death sentence by supreme
court -- Notice -- Transmittal -- Contents of notice -- Jurisdiction) and 1981
c 138 s 10;
(8) RCW 10.95.110 (Verbatim report of trial proceedings--Preparation -- Transmittal to supreme court -- Clerk's papers -- Receipt) and
1981 c 138 s 11;
(9) RCW 10.95.120 (Information report -- Form -- Contents -- Submission
to supreme court, defendant, prosecuting attorney) and 1981 c 138 s 12;
(10) RCW 10.95.130 (Questions posed for determination by supreme
court in death sentence review -- Review in addition to appeal--Consolidation of review and appeal) and 2010 c 94 s 5, 1993 c 479 s 3,
& 1981 c 138 s 13;
(11) RCW 10.95.140 (Invalidation of sentence, remand for
resentencing -- Affirmation of sentence, remand for execution) and 1993
c 479 s 4 & 1981 c 138 s 14;
(12) RCW 10.95.150 (Time limit for appellate review of death
sentence and filing opinion) and 1988 c 202 s 17 & 1981 c 138 s 15;
(13) RCW 10.95.160 (Death warrant -- Issuance -- Form -- Time for
execution of judgment and sentence) and 1990 c 263 s 1 & 1981 c 138 s
16;
(14) RCW 10.95.170 (Imprisonment of defendant) and 1983 c 255 s 1
& 1981 c 138 s 17;
(15) RCW 10.95.180 (Death penalty -- How executed) and 1996 c 251 s
1, 1986 c 194 s 1, & 1981 c 138 s 18;
(16) RCW 10.95.185 (Witnesses) and 1999 c 332 s 1 & 1993 c 463 s 2;
(17) RCW 10.95.190 (Death warrant -- Record -- Return to trial court)
and 1981 c 138 s 19;
(18) RCW 10.95.200 (Proceedings for failure to execute on day
named) and 1990 c 263 s 2, 1987 c 286 s 1, & 1981 c 138 s 20; and
(19) RCW 10.95.900 (Severability -- 1981 c 138) and 1981 c 138 s 22.