Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S1140 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1422 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1140
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	John C. Velis
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to dangerousness hearings.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :John C. VelisHampden and Hampshire 1 of 5
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1422 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1140
18	18	By Mr. Velis, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1140) of John C. Velis for legislation
19	19	relative to dangerousness hearings. The Judiciary.
20	20	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
21	21	_______________
22	22	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
23	23	(2023-2024)
24	24	_______________
25	25	An Act relative to dangerousness hearings.
26	26	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
27	27	of the same, as follows:
28	28	1 SECTION 1. Said chapter 276 is hereby amended by striking out subsection (1) of
29	29	2section 58A, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the
30	30	3following subsection:-
31	31	4 The commonwealth may move, based on dangerousness, for an order of pretrial detention
32	32	5or release on conditions when a defendant has been charged with any of the following: (a) felony
33	33	6offense that has as an element of the offense the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical
34	34	7force against the person of another; (b) the crimes of burglary or arson; (c) a violation of an order
35	35	8pursuant to section 18, 34B or 34C of chapter 208, section 32 of chapter 209, section 3, 4 or 5 of
36	36	9chapter 209 A or section 15 or 20 of chapter 209C; (d) a misdemeanor or felony involving abuse
37	37	10as defined in section 1 of said chapter 209A or while an order of protection issued under said
38	38	11chapter 209A was in effect against such person; (e) an offense for which a maximum penalty of
39	39	12ten years or more is prescribed in chapter 94C; (f) a violation of section 13B of chapter 268; (g) a
40	40	13third or subsequent violation of section 24 of chapter 90 or section 8 of chapter 90B; or a 2 of 5
41	41	14violation of section 24G of chapter 90 which occurs under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or a
42	42	15violation of section 8B of chapter 90B; (h) a violation of section 131N of chapter 140 or
43	43	16subsection (a), (b), (c), (d), (h), (j) or (m) of section 10 or section 10A, 10E, 10G or 11 C of
44	44	17chapter 269, provided, however, that the commonwealth may not move for an order of detention
45	45	18under this section based on possession of a large capacity feeding device without simultaneous
46	46	19possession of a large capacity weapon; torture of animals, or any abuse of animals which
47	47	20constitutes a violation of section 77 or 94 of chapter 272, or of section 112 of chapter 266; a sex
48	48	21offense involving a child as defined in section 178C of chapter 6; a violation of section 13, 13 ½,
49	49	2213B, 13B ½, 13 B ¾, 13F, 18B, 22, 22A, 22B, 22C, 23, 23A, 23B, 24, 25, 26B, 26C, 37, 43A, 50
50	50	23or 51 of chapter 265 or a violation of section 13D of said chapter 265 in which the public
51	51	24employee is a police officer or firefighter engaged in the performance of his or her duties; a
52	52	25violation of section 4A, 4B, 16, 29A, 29B, 29C, 77 or 105 of chapter 272; a violation of section
53	53	26102, or a malicious violation of section 127 of chapter 266; threats to kill, rape, or cause serious
54	54	27bodily injury; conspiracy or solicitation to commit any of the above enumerated crimes.
55	55	28 SECTION 2. Said chapter 276 is hereby amended by striking out subsection (3) of
56	56	29section 58A and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-
57	57	30 (a) If, after a hearing pursuant to the provisions of subsection (4), the district or superior
58	58	31court justice finds by clear and convincing evidence that no conditions of release will reasonably
59	59	32assure the safety of any other person or the community, said justice shall order the detention of
60	60	33the person prior to trial. A person so detained shall be detained until the disposition of the case
61	61	34and shall brought to trial as soon as reasonably possible and subject to the requirements of Rule
62	62	3536. 3 of 5
63	63	36 (b) Nothing in this section shall be construed as modifying or limiting the presumption of
64	64	37innocence.
65	65	38 (c) A hearing under this section may be reopened by the judge, at any time before trial, or
66	66	39upon a motion of the commonwealth or the person detained if the judge finds that: (i)
67	67	40information exists that was not known at the time of the hearing or that there has been a change
68	68	41in circumstances and (ii) that such information or change in circumstances has a material bearing
69	69	42on the issue of whether there are conditions of release that will reasonably assure the safety of
70	70	43any other person or the community.
71	71	44 (d) On an annual basis, the Secretary of Public Safety shall conduct an analysis of
72	72	45prosecutorial decisions to seek dangerousness hearings within the Commonwealth, and judicial
73	73	46determinations of dangerousness when a hearing is conducted. Such analysis shall examine the
74	74	47treatment of offenders and determine whether offenders who are charged with the same offenses
75	75	48and who have similar criminal histories are treated equally to one another, or whether there is
76	76	49disparate impact by race, gender, or ethnicity. The trial court shall provide to the Department of
77	77	50Criminal Justice Information Services data regarding the number and location of dangerousness-
78	78	51eligible offenses, the number of dangerousness hearings that are conducted, the outcome of such
79	79	52hearings, and the demographic information of the accused parties. The analysis of the Secretary
80	80	53of Public Safety shall be presented to the General Court and shall be a public document.
81	81	54 SECTION 3. Said chapter 276 is hereby amended by adding to the conclusion of section
82	82	5558, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, the following subsection:-
83	83	56 (1) Any adult who has been charged with a crime, and any adult guardian of a juvenile
84	84	57who has been charged with an act of delinquency, shall be requested to voluntarily provide the 4 of 5
85	85	58court with his or her cellular telephone number, if the defendant or guardian has such a device,
86	86	59but may decline to do so; provided, however, that upon the order of a judicial officer a defendant
87	87	60may be required to provide such information. The executive office of the trial court shall
88	88	61procure or establish a service using a system of automated text messaging to remind criminal
89	89	62defendants of mandatory court appearance dates in advance of the date of such appearance. Such
90	90	63service shall be made available to all criminal defendants and to the guardians of juvenile
91	91	64defendants free of charge. Information so provided by a criminal defendant or the guardian of a
92	92	65juvenile defendant pursuant to this subsection shall not be deemed to be a public record, shall not
93	93	66be provided to law enforcement agencies for criminal investigative purposes, and may not be
94	94	67used against the defendant in any criminal proceeding; provided, however, that the fact that a
95	95	68party did or did not participate in this system shall be marked on the docket, and such fact may
96	96	69be used in a proceeding if otherwise admissible. This subsection shall take effect on July 1, 2023.
97	97	70 SECTION 4. Said chapter 276 is hereby amended by inserting after section 82A the
98	98	71following section:-
99	99	72 Section 82B. (1) A person who violates any non-financial condition of release ordered
100	100	73under section 58 of chapter 119, section 58, 58A, 58B, 59, or 87 of this chapter, or section 1 or
101	101	741A of chapter 279; or any other non-financial condition of probation imposed by a court after
102	102	75conviction or admission to sufficient facts; or any non-financial term or condition of parole
103	103	76imposed by the parole board; may be arrested upon probable cause by a sheriff, deputy sheriff or
104	104	77police officer and kept in custody in a convenient place, not more than 24 hours, Sunday
105	105	78excepted, until notice of the violation can be given to the probation service, and such person be
106	106	79taken before the issuing court upon a warrant obtained by the probation service; or, in the case of
107	107	80a person under parole supervision, to the parole board. 5 of 5
108	108	81 (2) The trial court, the probation service and the parole board shall promptly provide to
109	109	82the department of criminal justice information services records of all non-financial conditions of
110	110	83release imposed upon criminal defendants and delinquent children, and all non-financial
111	111	84conditions of probation and parole, and the department of criminal justice information services
112	112	85shall make such information accessible in electronic format to sheriffs, deputy sheriffs and police
113	113	86officers.
114	114	87 SECTION 5. Chapter 268 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
115	115	88section 13D the following section:-
116	116	89 Section 13E. Whoever unlawfully removes, destroys, damages, or interferes with the
117	117	90proper functioning of a court-imposed geolocation monitoring device, any breath-testing
118	118	91instrument, or any other mechanical or electronic mechanism intended to facilitate recognizance
119	119	92or compliance with conditions of pretrial release, probation or parole, shall be punished by
120	120	93imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 10 years or imprisonment in a house of
121	121	94correction for not more than 2 and ½ years. A sentence imposed for violation of this section
122	122	95shall not run concurrently with any other sentence. In any subsequent proceeding under section
123	123	9658, 58A, 58B or 59 of chapter 276, the fact of a person’s prior violation of this section shall be
124	124	97prima facie evidence that there is no financial condition or other condition of release that will
125	125	98reasonably assure the presence of the person so convicted.