[DV_listserv] READ ME: Strangulation Bill(s)!!

[Domestic Violence issues]

Hello, All:

This session, the legislature passed SB 1527, which provided a technical fix to the Strangulation bill from last year (SB 2940).

As you know, last year (after multiple attempts), the legislature finally passed a law increasing the penalty for Strangulation from misdemeanor to felony under certain circumstances. One of those circumstances (ORS 163.187(4)(e)) is when the defendant has been previously convicted of assaulting, or menacing the same victim as in the current offense.

Unfortunately, when last year's bill passed, we did not catch that there was a mistake in the body of the proposed bill  which read, "[a]nd the victim in the previous conviction is the same person who is the victim of the current conviction; or".  Obviously, the italicized phrase is incorrect- if the person is being accused of the current crime (in a charging document), it cannot be a "current conviction."

Jean Kunkle, Marion County, was the eagle-eye who caught this mistake. Thanks, Jean!

Luckily, the mistake was caught just before the deadline of filing proposed bills for THIS year's legislative session and we were able to draft a fix: SB 1527 simply substitutes "current crime" for "current conviction". I've pasted the link to the Legislature's website below which indicates that the bill was passed, signed by the Governor and is in effect now.

http://www.leg.state.or.us/mag/home.htm

HOWEVER, I just received the new 2012 criminal code. Out of curiosity, I flipped to the Strangulation statute --- unfortunately (it's not great when an email has two sentences starting with "unfortunately") the previous statute with the mistake appears in the code.

This should NOT pose any legal problems for those of you making arrests or prosecuting these cases. I just wanted to alert you to the problem and provide you the link so that you have proof (should you need it) that the legislative fix was passed and it is in effect.

Email me if you have questions,

Erin

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