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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3583 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3962 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Russell E. Holmes and Liz Miranda |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act regarding joint venture. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Russell E. Holmes6th Suffolk1/20/2023Liz MirandaSecond Suffolk1/20/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3583 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3962 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Holmes of Boston and Senator Miranda, a joint petition (accompanied by bill, |
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| 19 | 19 | | House, No. 3962) of Russell E. Holmes and Liz Miranda for legislation to provide equitable |
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| 20 | 20 | | sentencing for felony and joint venture murder. The Judiciary. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act regarding joint venture. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 265 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out in, in lines 3 and 4, the words "or in the |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3commission or attempted commission of a crime punishable with death or imprisonment for |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4life,". |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5 SECTION 2. Said section 1 of said section 265, as so appearing, is hereby further |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6amended by inserting after the second sentence the following sentence:- Where a killing occurs |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7during the commission or attempted commission of a crime punishable with imprisonment for |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8life, the killing shall amount to murder for a principal perpetrator who is personally and directly |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9responsible for committing the killing and acts with the same malice forethought towards the |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10killing as is required for a killing to amount to murder when not done in the course or furtherance |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11of another offense. 2 of 2 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12 SECTION 3. Chapter 274 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13striking out section 2 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14 Section 2. Whoever aids in the commission of a felony, or is accessory thereto |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15before the fact by counselling, hiring or otherwise procuring such felony to be committed, shall |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16be punished in the manner provided for the punishment of the principal felon; provided, |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17however, that in the event of a killing resulting during the commission or attempted commission |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18of a felony, the killing shall amount to murder in the first degree only for a principal perpetrator |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19who is personally and directly responsible for committing the killing and acts with the same |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20malice forethought towards the killing as is required for a killing to amount to murder when not |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21done in the course or furtherance of another offense. |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22 Whoever aids in the commission of a killing or is accessory thereto before the fact |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23by counseling, hiring, or otherwise procuring such killing to be committed but is not a principal |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24perpetrator who is personally and directly responsible for committing the killing, shall be |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period of not less than 2 and 1/2 years nor |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26more than 25 years. |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27 SECTION 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, sections 1 and 2 shall apply to |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28any person charged or convicted with murder prior to, on or after the effective date of this act. |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29 SECTION 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, section 3 shall apply to any |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30person charged or convicted with aiding in the commission of a killing or who is accessory |
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| 59 | 59 | | 31thereto before the fact by counseling, hiring, or otherwise procuring such killing to be committed |
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| 60 | 60 | | 32prior to, on or after the effective date of this act. |
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