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Senate Bill 359 |
Senate Author: Patrick, Dan |
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Effective: 9-1-09 |
House Sponsor: Eiland |
Senate Bill 359 amends Penal Code provisions relating to punishment for certain offenses committed in a disaster area or evacuated area. The bill increases the punishment for an offense of assault, robbery, burglary, or theft to the punishment prescribed for the next higher category of offense if it is shown at trial that the offense was committed in an area that was, at the time of the offense, subject to a declaration of a state of disaster made by the president of the United States, the governor, or the presiding officer of the governing body of a political subdivision, or subject to an emergency evacuation order. The bill increases the minimum term of confinement for an offense of assault or theft that is punishable as a Class A misdemeanor to 180 days and prohibits an increase in punishment for a first degree felony offense of burglary or theft. The bill provides that it is a defense to a charge of theft that the conduct in question meets the elements of necessity outlined in state law relating to justification for excluding criminal responsibility.