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AUTOMOBILE HOMICIDE AMENDMENTS

                 
2003 GENERAL SESSION

                 
STATE OF UTAH

                 
Sponsor: Carlene M. Walker

                  This act also provides that a person who operates a motor vehicle in a negligent manner
                  and causes death or serious bodily injury, while having a measurable amount of
                  controlled substance in his body, is subject to one degree greater penalty under the
                  controlled substance laws.
                  This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
                  AMENDS:
                      58-37-8, as last amended by Chapters 12 and 303, Laws of Utah 1999
                      76-5-207, as last amended by Chapter 106, Laws of Utah 2002
                  Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
                      Section 1. Section 58-37-8 is amended to read:
                       58-37-8. Prohibited acts -- Penalties.
                      (1) Prohibited acts A -- Penalties:
                      (a) Except as authorized by this chapter, it is unlawful for any person to knowingly and
                  intentionally:
                      (i) produce, manufacture, or dispense, or to possess with intent to produce,
                  manufacture, or dispense, a controlled or counterfeit substance;
                      (ii) distribute a controlled or counterfeit substance, or to agree, consent, offer, or
                  arrange to distribute a controlled or counterfeit substance;
                      (iii) possess a controlled or counterfeit substance with intent to distribute; or
                      (iv) engage in a continuing criminal enterprise where:
                      (A) the person participates, directs, or engages in conduct which results in any
                  violation of any provision of Title 58, Chapters 37, 37a, 37b, 37c, or 37d that is a felony; and
                      (B) the violation is a part of a continuing series of two or more violations of Title 58,
                  Chapters 37, 37a, 37b, 37c, or 37d on separate occasions that are undertaken in concert with
                  five or more persons with respect to whom the person occupies a position of organizer,


                  supervisor, or any other position of management.
                      (b) Any person convicted of violating Subsection (1)(a) with respect to:
                      (i) a substance classified in Schedule I or II or a controlled substance analog is guilty of a
                  second degree felony and upon a second or subsequent conviction is guilty of a first degree
                  felony;
                      (ii) a substance classified in Schedule III or IV, or marijuana, is guilty of a third degree
                  felony, and upon a second or subsequent conviction is guilty of a second degree felony; or
                      (iii) a substance classified in Schedule V is guilty of a class A misdemeanor and upon a
                  second or subsequent conviction is guilty of a third degree felony.
                      (c) Any person who has been convicted of a violation of Subsection (1)(a)(ii) or (iii) may
                  be sentenced to imprisonment for an indeterminate term as provided by law, but if the trier of
                  fact finds a firearm as defined in Section 76-10-501 was used, carried, or possessed on his person
                  or in his immediate possession during the commission or in furtherance of the offense, the court
                  shall additionally sentence the person convicted for a term of one year to run consecutively and
                  not concurrently; and the court may additionally sentence the person convicted for an
                  indeterminate term not to exceed five years to run consecutively and not concurrently.
                      (d) Any person convicted of violating Subsection (1)(a)(iv) is guilty of a first degree
                  felony punishable by imprisonment for an indeterminate term of not less than seven years and
                  which may be for life. Imposition or execution of the sentence may not be suspended, and the
                  person is not eligible for probation.
                      (2) Prohibited acts B -- Penalties:
                      (a) It is unlawful:
                      (i) for any person knowingly and intentionally to possess or use a controlled substance,
                  unless it was obtained under a valid prescription or order, directly from a practitioner while
                  acting in the course of his professional practice, or as otherwise authorized by this chapter;
                      (ii) for any owner, tenant, licensee, or person in control of any building, room, tenement,
                  vehicle, boat, aircraft, or other place knowingly and intentionally to permit them to be occupied
                  by persons unlawfully possessing, using, or distributing controlled substances in any of those

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                  locations; or
                      (iii) for any person knowingly and intentionally to possess an altered or forged
                  prescription or written order for a controlled substance.
                      (b) Any person convicted of violating Subsection (2)(a)(i) with respect to:
                      (i) marijuana, if the amount is 100 pounds or more, is guilty of a second degree felony;
                      (ii) a substance classified in Schedule I or II, marijuana, if the amount is more than 16
                  ounces, but less than 100 pounds, or a controlled substance analog, is guilty of a third degree
                  felony; or
                      (iii) marijuana, if the marijuana is not in the form of an extracted resin from any part of
                  the plant, and the amount is more than one ounce but less than 16 ounces, is guilty of a class A
                  misdemeanor.
                      (c) Any person convicted of violating Subsection (2)(a)(i) while inside the exterior
                  boundaries of property occupied by any correctional facility as defined in Section 64-13-1 or any
                  public jail or other place of confinement shall be sentenced to a penalty one degree greater than
                  provided in Subsection (2)(b).
                      (d) Upon a second or subsequent conviction of possession of any controlled substance by
                  a person, that person shall be sentenced to a one degree greater penalty than provided in this
                  Subsection (2).
                      (e) Any person who violates Subsection (2)(a)(i) with respect to all other controlled
                  substances not included in Subsection (2)(b)(i), (ii), or (iii), including less than one ounce of
                  marijuana, is guilty of a class B misdemeanor. Upon a second conviction the person is guilty of a
                  class A misdemeanor, and upon a third or subsequent conviction the person is guilty of a third
                  degree felony.
                      (f) Any person convicted of violating Subsection (2)(a)(ii) or (2)(a)(iii) is:
                      (i) on a first conviction, guilty of a class B misdemeanor;
                      (ii) on a second conviction, guilty of a class A misdemeanor; and
                      (iii) on a third or subsequent conviction, guilty of a third degree felony.
                      (g) A person is subject to the penalties under Subsection (4)(c) who, in an offense not

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                  amounting to a violation of Section 76-5-207 :
                      (i) violates Subsection (2)(a)(i) by knowingly and intentionally having in his body any
                  measurable amount of a controlled substance; and
                      (ii) operates a motor vehicle as defined in Section 76-5-207 in a negligent manner,
                  causing serious bodily injury as defined in Section 76-1-601 or the death of another.
                      (3) Prohibited acts C -- Penalties:
                      (a) It is unlawful for any person knowingly and intentionally:
                      (i) to use in the course of the manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance a
                  license number which is fictitious, revoked, suspended, or issued to another person or, for the
                  purpose of obtaining a controlled substance, to assume the title of, or represent himself to be, a
                  manufacturer, wholesaler, apothecary, physician, dentist, veterinarian, or other authorized person;
                      (ii) to acquire or obtain possession of, to procure or attempt to procure the administration
                  of, to obtain a prescription for, to prescribe or dispense to any person known to be attempting to
                  acquire or obtain possession of, or to procure the administration of any controlled substance by
                  misrepresentation or failure by the person to disclose his receiving any controlled substance from
                  another source, fraud, forgery, deception, subterfuge, alteration of a prescription or written order
                  for a controlled substance, or the use of a false name or address;
                      (iii) to make any false or forged prescription or written order for a controlled substance,
                  or to utter the same, or to alter any prescription or written order issued or written under the terms
                  of this chapter; or
                      (iv) to make, distribute, or possess any punch, die, plate, stone, or other thing designed to
                  print, imprint, or reproduce the trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint, or
                  device of another or any likeness of any of the foregoing upon any drug or container or labeling
                  so as to render any drug a counterfeit controlled substance.
                      (b) Any person convicted of violating Subsection (3)(a) is guilty of a third degree felony.
                      (4) Prohibited acts D -- Penalties:
                      (a) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, a person not authorized under this
                  chapter who commits any act declared to be unlawful under this section, Title 58, Chapter 37a,

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                  Utah Drug Paraphernalia Act, or under Title 58, Chapter 37b, Imitation Controlled Substances
                  Act, is upon conviction subject to the penalties and classifications under Subsection (4)(b) if the
                  act is committed:
                      (i) in a public or private elementary or secondary school or on the grounds of any of
                  those schools;
                      (ii) in a public or private vocational school or postsecondary institution or on the grounds
                  of any of those schools or institutions;
                      (iii) in those portions of any building, park, stadium, or other structure or grounds which
                  are, at the time of the act, being used for an activity sponsored by or through a school or
                  institution under Subsections (4)(a)(i) and (ii);
                      (iv) in or on the grounds of a preschool or child-care facility;
                      (v) in a public park, amusement park, arcade, or recreation center;
                      (vi) in a church or synagogue;
                      (vii) in a shopping mall, sports facility, stadium, arena, theater, movie house, playhouse,
                  or parking lot or structure adjacent thereto;
                      (viii) in a public parking lot or structure;
                      (ix) within 1,000 feet of any structure, facility, or grounds included in Subsections
                  (4)(a)(i) through (viii); or
                      (x) in the immediate presence of a person younger than 18 years of age, regardless of
                  where the act occurs.
                      (b) A person convicted under this Subsection (4) is guilty of a first degree felony and
                  shall be imprisoned for a term of not less than five years if the penalty that would otherwise have
                  been established but for this subsection would have been a first degree felony. Imposition or
                  execution of the sentence may not be suspended, and the person is not eligible for probation.
                      (c) If the classification that would otherwise have been established would have been less
                  than a first degree felony but for this Subsection (4), a person convicted under Subsection (2)(g)
                  or this Subsection (4) is guilty of one degree more than the maximum penalty prescribed for that
                  offense.

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                      (d) It is not a defense to a prosecution under this Subsection (4) that the actor mistakenly
                  believed the individual to be 18 years of age or older at the time of the offense or was unaware of
                  the individual's true age; nor that the actor mistakenly believed that the location where the act
                  occurred was not as described in Subsection (4)(a) or was unaware that the location where the act
                  occurred was as described in Subsection (4)(a).
                      (5) Any violation of this chapter for which no penalty is specified is a class B
                  misdemeanor.
                      (6) (a) Any penalty imposed for violation of this section is in addition to, and not in lieu
                  of, any civil or administrative penalty or sanction authorized by law.
                      (b) Where violation of this chapter violates a federal law or the law of another state,
                  conviction or acquittal under federal law or the law of another state for the same act is a bar to
                  prosecution in this state.
                      (7) In any prosecution for a violation of this chapter, evidence or proof which shows a
                  person or persons produced, manufactured, possessed, distributed, or dispensed a controlled
                  substance or substances, is prima facie evidence that the person or persons did so with
                  knowledge of the character of the substance or substances.
                      (8) This section does not prohibit a veterinarian, in good faith and in the course of his
                  professional practice only and not for humans, from prescribing, dispensing, or administering
                  controlled substances or from causing the substances to be administered by an assistant or orderly
                  under his direction and supervision.
                      (9) Civil or criminal liability may not be imposed under this section on:
                      (a) any person registered under the Controlled Substances Act who manufactures,
                  distributes, or possesses an imitation controlled substance for use as a placebo or investigational
                  new drug by a registered practitioner in the ordinary course of professional practice or research;
                  or
                      (b) any law enforcement officer acting in the course and legitimate scope of his
                  employment.
                      (10) If any provision of this chapter, or the application of any provision to any person or

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                  circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder of this chapter shall be given effect without the
                  invalid provision or application.
                      Section 2. Section 76-5-207 is amended to read:
                       76-5-207. Automobile homicide.
                      (1) As used in this section, "motor vehicle" means any self-propelled vehicle and
                  includes any automobile, truck, van, motorcycle, train, engine, watercraft, or aircraft.
                      [(1)] (2) (a) Criminal homicide is automobile homicide, a third degree felony, if the
                  person operates a motor vehicle in a negligent manner causing the death of another and:
                      (i) has sufficient alcohol in his body that a subsequent chemical test shows that the
                  person has a blood or breath alcohol concentration of .08 grams or greater at the time of the test;
                      (ii) is under the influence of alcohol, any drug, or the combined influence of alcohol and
                  any drug to a degree that renders the person incapable of safely operating a vehicle; or
                      (iii) has a blood or breath alcohol concentration of .08 grams or greater at the time of
                  operation.
                      (b) A conviction for a violation of this Subsection (2) is a second degree felony if it is
                  subsequent to a conviction as defined in Subsection 41-6-44 (1)(a).
                      [(b) For the purpose of]
                      (c) As used in this Subsection (2), "negligent" means simple negligence, the failure to
                  exercise that degree of care that reasonable and prudent persons exercise under like or similar
                  circumstances.
                      [(2)] (3) (a) Criminal homicide is automobile homicide, a second degree felony, if the
                  person operates a motor vehicle in a criminally negligent manner causing the death of another
                  and:
                      (i) has sufficient alcohol in his body that a subsequent chemical test shows that the
                  person has a blood or breath alcohol concentration of .08 grams or greater at the time of the test;
                      (ii) is under the influence of alcohol, any drug, or the combined influence of alcohol and
                  any drug to a degree that renders the person incapable of safely operating a vehicle; or
                      (iii) has a blood or breath alcohol concentration of .08 grams or greater at the time of

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                  operation.
                      (b) [For the purpose of] As used in this [section] Subsection (3), "criminally negligent"
                  means criminal negligence as defined by Subsection 76-2-103 (4).
                      [(3)] (4) The standards for chemical breath analysis as provided by Section 41-6-44.3 and
                  the provisions for the admissibility of chemical test results as provided by Section 41-6-44.5
                  apply to determination and proof of blood alcohol content under this section.
                      [(4)] (5) Calculations of blood or breath alcohol concentration under this section shall be
                  made in accordance with Subsection 41-6-44 (2).
                      [(5)] (6) The fact that a person charged with violating this section is or has been legally
                  entitled to use alcohol or a drug is not a defense [to any charge of violating this section].
                      [(6)] (7) Evidence of a defendant's blood or breath alcohol content or drug content is
                  admissible except when prohibited by Rules of Evidence or the constitution.
                      [(7) For purposes of this section, "motor vehicle" means any self-propelled vehicle and
                  includes any automobile, truck, van, motorcycle, train, engine, watercraft, or aircraft.]

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