SLS 23RS-303 ORIGINAL 2023 Regular Session SENATE BILL NO. 112 BY SENATOR ABRAHAM Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana. CRIME/PUNISHMENT. Provides relative to second degree murder. (gov sig) 1 AN ACT 2 To amend and reenact R.S. 14:30.1 and to enact R.S. 15:827.2(E), relative to second degree 3 murder; to provide relative to elements of the offense; to provide for penalties; to 4 provide for tracking of persons imprisoned for second degree murder; and to provide 5 for related matters. 6 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana: 7 Section 1. R.S. 14:30.1 is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows: 8 §30.1. Second degree murder 9 A. Second degree murder is the killing of a human being: 10 (1)(a) When the offender has a specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily 11 harm; or. 12 (b) Whoever commits the crime of second degree murder defined in 13 Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall be punished by life imprisonment at 14 hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. 15 (2)(a) When the offender is engaged in the perpetration or attempted 16 perpetration of aggravated or first degree rape, or forcible or second degree rape, 17 aggravated arson, aggravated burglary, aggravated kidnapping, second degree Page 1 of 5 Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law; words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 112 SLS 23RS-303 ORIGINAL 1 kidnapping, aggravated escape, assault by drive-by shooting, armed robbery, first 2 degree robbery, second degree robbery, simple robbery, cruelty to juveniles, second 3 degree cruelty to juveniles, or terrorism, even though he has no intent to kill or to 4 inflict great bodily harm. 5 (b) Whoever commits the crime of second degree murder defined in 6 Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall be punished by life imprisonment at 7 hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. 8 (3)(a)When the offender is engaged in the perpetration or attempted 9 perpetration of aggravated arson, aggravated burglary, aggravated kidnapping, 10 second degree kidnapping, aggravated escape, assault by drive-by shooting, 11 armed robbery, first degree robbery, second degree robbery, simple robbery, 12 cruelty to juveniles, second degree cruelty to juveniles, or terrorism, even 13 though he has no intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm. 14 (b) Whoever commits the crime of second degree murder defined in 15 Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall be punished by life imprisonment at 16 hard labor at least twenty-five years of which shall be served without benefit of 17 parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. 18 (3)(4)(a) When the offender unlawfully distributes or dispenses a controlled 19 dangerous substance listed in Schedules I through V of the Uniform Controlled 20 Dangerous Substances Law, or any combination thereof, except fentanyl or a 21 mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl or its 22 analogues, or carfentanil or a mixture or substance containing a detectable 23 amount of carfentanil or its analogues, which is the direct cause of the death of the 24 recipient who ingested or consumed the controlled dangerous substance. 25 (b) Whoever commits the crime of second degree murder defined in 26 Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall be punished by life imprisonment at 27 hard labor, at least twenty-five years of which shall be served without benefit 28 of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. 29 (5)(a) When the offender unlawfully distributes or dispenses fentanyl or Page 2 of 5 Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law; words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 112 SLS 23RS-303 ORIGINAL 1 a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl or its 2 analogues, or carfentanil or a mixture or substance containing a detectable 3 amount of carfentanil or its analogues, which is the direct cause of the death of 4 the recipient who ingested or consumed the controlled dangerous substance. 5 (b) Whoever commits the crime of second degree murder defined in 6 Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall be punished by life imprisonment at 7 hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. 8 (4)(6)(a) When the offender unlawfully distributes or dispenses a controlled 9 dangerous substance listed in Schedules I through V of the Uniform Controlled 10 Dangerous Substances Law, or any combination thereof, except fentanyl or a 11 mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl or its 12 analogues, or carfentanil or a mixture or substance containing a detectable 13 amount of carfentanil or its analogues, to another who subsequently distributes or 14 dispenses such controlled dangerous substance which is the direct cause of the death 15 of the person who ingested or consumed the controlled dangerous substance. 16 (b) Whoever commits the crime of second degree murder defined in 17 Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall be punished by life imprisonment at 18 hard labor, at least twenty-five years of which shall be served without benefit 19 of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. 20 (7)(a) When the offender unlawfully distributes or dispenses fentanyl or 21 a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl or its 22 analogues, or carfentanil or a mixture or substance containing a detectable 23 amount of carfentanil or its analogues, to another who subsequently distributes 24 or dispenses such controlled dangerous substance which is the direct cause of 25 the death of the person who ingested or consumed the controlled dangerous 26 substance. 27 (b) Whoever commits the crime of second degree murder defined in 28 Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall be punished by life imprisonment at 29 hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Page 3 of 5 Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law; words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 112 SLS 23RS-303 ORIGINAL 1 B. Whoever commits the crime of second degree murder shall be punished 2 by life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension 3 of sentence. 4 Section 2. R.S. 15:827.2(E) is hereby enacted to read as follows: 5 §827.2. Data collection and reporting requirements 6 * * * 7 E. By September 1, 2023, and annually on September 1 thereafter, the 8 department shall compile and make publically available a list of all individuals 9 confined for a violation of R.S. 14:30.1. The list shall include the individual's 10 date of confinement, the individual's Department of Public Safety and 11 Correction's identification number, and the parish where the individual was 12 convicted. 13 Section 3. The provisions of this Act shall be given prospective application only. 14 Section 4. This Act shall become effective upon signature by the governor or, if not 15 signed by the governor, upon expiration of the time for bills to become law without signature 16 by the governor, as provided by Article III, Section 18 of the Constitution of Louisiana. If 17 vetoed by the governor and subsequently approved by the legislature, this Act shall become 18 effective on the day following such approval. The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Whitney Kauffeld. DIGEST SB 112 Original 2023 Regular Session Abraham Present law provides that second degree murder is the killing of a human being: (1)When the offender has a specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm. (2)When the offender is engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of aggravated or first degree rape, forcible or second degree rape, aggravated arson, aggravated burglary, aggravated kidnapping, second degree kidnapping, aggravated escape, assault by drive-by shooting, armed robbery, first degree robbery, second degree robbery, simple robbery, cruelty to juveniles, second degree cruelty to juveniles, or terrorism, even though he has no intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm. (3)When the offender unlawfully distributes or dispenses a controlled dangerous substance listed in Schedules I through V of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law, or any combination thereof, which is the direct cause of the death Page 4 of 5 Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law; words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 112 SLS 23RS-303 ORIGINAL of the recipient who ingested or consumed the controlled dangerous substance. (4)When the offender unlawfully distributes or dispenses a controlled dangerous substance listed in Schedules I through V of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law, or any combination thereof, to another who subsequently distributes or dispenses such controlled dangerous substance which is the direct cause of the death of the person who ingested or consumed the controlled dangerous substance. Present law provides that second degree murder will be punished by life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Proposed law provides that second degree murder committed when the offender is engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of any offense listed in present law relative to second degree murder other than first degree rape or second degree rape will be punished by life imprisonment at hard labor, with a minimum of 25 years served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, allowing for the balance to be served with benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Proposed law provides that second degree murder committed when the offender unlawfully distributes or dispenses a controlled dangerous substance, except fentanyl or carfentanil, which is the direct cause of the death of the recipient, will be punished by life imprisonment at hard labor, with a minimum of 25 years served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, allowing for the balance to be served with benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Proposed law provides that second degree murder committed when the offender unlawfully distributes or dispenses a controlled dangerous substance, except fentanyl or carfentanil, to another who subsequently distributes or dispenses the controlled dangerous substance which is the direct cause of the death of the recipient, will be punished by life imprisonment at hard labor, with a minimum of 25 years served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, allowing for the balance to be served with benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Proposed law otherwise retains present law, including the present law penalty of life imprisonment without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence for second degree murder committed when the offender distributes or dispenses fentanyl or carfentanil which is the direct cause of the death of the recipient, or when the offender unlawfully distributes or dispenses fentanyl or carfentanil, to another who subsequently distributes or dispenses the controlled dangerous substance which is the direct cause of the death of recipient. Proposed law requires the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections to compile and make available a list of inmates in the custody of the department for a conviction of second degree murder. Proposed law further provides that the list must include the date of imprisonment, the Dept. of Corrections identification number, and the parish where the offender was convicted. Proposed law relative to second degree murder is given prospective application only. Effective upon signature of the governor or lapse of time for gubernatorial action. (Amends R.S. 14:30.1; adds R.S. 15:827.2(E)) Page 5 of 5 Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law; words in boldface type and underscored are additions.