General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6367
January Session, 2011 LCO No. 3267
*03267_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on Judiciary
Introduced by:
(JUD)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 6367
January Session, 2011
LCO No. 3267
*03267_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on Judiciary
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE FAILURE OF A WITNESS TO REPORT A SERIOUS CRIME.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2011) (a) A person is guilty of failure to report a crime when such person witnesses what the person knows or reasonably should know is the murder, assault or sexual assault of another person or the physical abuse of a child, or the attempt thereof, and does not, as soon as reasonably practicable, report that crime to a law enforcement agency.
(b) In any prosecution for an offense under this section, it shall be an affirmative defense that the defendant (1) did not, as soon as reasonably practicable, report the crime because the defendant reasonably believed that (A) doing so would have exposed the defendant or another person to a substantial risk of physical injury, or (B) another person had already reported the crime to a law enforcement official, or (2) acted to stop the commission of the crime and stopped (A) the commission of the crime, or (B) the completion of the crime being attempted.
(c) Failure to report a crime is a class A misdemeanor.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2011 New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
October 1, 2011
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To require a person who witnesses a serious crime to report that crime to a law enforcement agency.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]