Maryland 2022 Regular Session

Maryland Senate Bill SB533 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	sb0533
6	6
7	7	SENATE BILL 533
8	8	E1 2lr0483
9	9	SB 560/21 – JPR
10	10	By: Senators Ready, Bailey, Cassilly, Corderman, Eckardt, Edwards, Gallion,
11	11	Hershey, Hough, Jennings, Salling, Simonaire, West, and Young
12	12	Introduced and read first time: January 28, 2022
13	13	Assigned to: Judicial Proceedings
14	14
15	15	A BILL ENTITLED
16	16
17	17	AN ACT concerning 1
18	18
19	19	Criminal Law – Theft of a Handgun 2
20	20
21	21	FOR the purpose of establishing the felony of theft of a handgun; and generally relating to 3
22	22	theft of a handgun. 4
23	23
24	24	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 5
25	25	Article – Criminal Law 6
26	26	Section 7–104 7
27	27	Annotated Code of Maryland 8
28	28	(2021 Replacement Volume and 2021 Supplement) 9
29	29
30	30	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 10
31	31	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 11
32	32
33	33	Article – Criminal Law 12
34	34
35	35	7–104. 13
36	36
37	37	(a) A person may not willfully or knowingly obtain or exert unauthorized control 14
38	38	over property, if the person: 15
39	39
40	40	(1) intends to deprive the owner of the property; 16
41	41
42	42	(2) willfully or knowingly uses, conceals, or abandons the property in a 17
43	43	manner that deprives the owner of the property; or 18
44	44
45	45	(3) uses, conceals, or abandons the property knowing the use, concealment, 19
46	46	or abandonment probably will deprive the owner of the property. 20
47	47
48	48	(b) A person may not obtain control over property by willfully or knowingly using 21 2 SENATE BILL 533
49	49
50	50
51	51	deception, if the person: 1
52	52
53	53	(1) intends to deprive the owner of the property; 2
54	54
55	55	(2) willfully or knowingly uses, conceals, or abandons the property in a 3
56	56	manner that deprives the owner of the property; or 4
57	57
58	58	(3) uses, conceals, or abandons the property knowing the use, concealment, 5
59	59	or abandonment probably will deprive the owner of the property. 6
60	60
61	61	(c) (1) A person may not possess stolen personal property knowing that it has 7
62	62	been stolen, or believing that it probably has been stolen, if the person: 8
63	63
64	64	(i) intends to deprive the owner of the property; 9
65	65
66	66	(ii) willfully or knowingly uses, conceals, or abandons the property 10
67	67	in a manner that deprives the owner of the property; or 11
68	68
69	69	(iii) uses, conceals, or abandons the property knowing that the use, 12
70	70	concealment, or abandonment probably will deprive the owner of the property. 13
71	71
72	72	(2) In the case of a person in the business of buying or selling goods, the 14
73	73	knowledge required under this subsection may be inferred if: 15
74	74
75	75	(i) the person possesses or exerts control over property stolen from 16
76	76	more than one person on separate occasions; 17
77	77
78	78	(ii) during the year preceding the criminal possession charged, the 18
79	79	person has acquired stolen property in a separate transaction; or 19
80	80
81	81	(iii) being in the business of buying or selling property of the sort 20
82	82	possessed, the person acquired it for a consideration that the person knew was far below a 21
83	83	reasonable value. 22
84	84
85	85	(3) In a prosecution for theft by possession of stolen property under this 23
86	86	subsection, it is not a defense that: 24
87	87
88	88	(i) the person who stole the property has not been convicted, 25
89	89	apprehended, or identified; 26
90	90
91	91	(ii) the defendant stole or participated in the stealing of the property; 27
92	92
93	93	(iii) the property was provided by law enforcement as part of an 28
94	94	investigation, if the property was described to the defendant as being obtained through the 29
95	95	commission of theft; or 30
96	96
97	97	(iv) the stealing of the property did not occur in the State. 31 SENATE BILL 533 3
98	98
99	99
100	100
101	101	(4) Unless the person who criminally possesses stolen property 1
102	102	participated in the stealing, the person who criminally possesses stolen property and a 2
103	103	person who has stolen the property are not accomplices in theft for the purpose of any rule 3
104	104	of evidence requiring corroboration of the testimony of an accomplice. 4
105	105
106	106	(d) A person may not obtain control over property knowing that the property was 5
107	107	lost, mislaid, or was delivered under a mistake as to the identity of the recipient or nature 6
108	108	or amount of the property, if the person: 7
109	109
110	110	(1) knows or learns the identity of the owner or knows, is aware of, or 8
111	111	learns of a reasonable method of identifying the owner; 9
112	112
113	113	(2) fails to take reasonable measures to restore the property to the owner; 10
114	114	and 11
115	115
116	116	(3) intends to deprive the owner permanently of the use or benefit of the 12
117	117	property when the person obtains the property or at a later time. 13
118	118
119	119	(e) A person may not obtain the services of another that are available only for 14
120	120	compensation: 15
121	121
122	122	(1) by deception; or 16
123	123
124	124	(2) with knowledge that the services are provided without the consent of 17
125	125	the person providing them. 18
126	126
127	127	(f) Under this section, an offender’s intention or knowledge that a promise would 19
128	128	not be performed may not be established by or inferred solely from the fact that the promise 20
129	129	was not performed. 21
130	130
131	131	(g) (1) THIS SUBSECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO THEFT O F A HANDGUN, AS 22
132	132	DEFINED IN § 5–101 OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY ARTICLE. 23
133	133
134	134	(2) A person convicted of theft of property or services with a value of: 24
135	135
136	136	(i) at least $1,500 but less than $25,000 is guilty of a felony and: 25
137	137
138	138	1. is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine 26
139	139	not exceeding $10,000 or both; and 27
140	140
141	141	2. shall restore the property taken to the owner or pay the 28
142	142	owner the value of the property or services; 29
143	143
144	144	(ii) at least $25,000 but less than $100,000 is guilty of a felony and: 30
145	145
146	146	1. is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine 31 4 SENATE BILL 533
147	147
148	148
149	149	not exceeding $15,000 or both; and 1
150	150
151	151	2. shall restore the property taken to the owner or pay the 2
152	152	owner the value of the property or services; or 3
153	153
154	154	(iii) $100,000 or more is guilty of a felony and: 4
155	155
156	156	1. is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 20 years or a fine 5
157	157	not exceeding $25,000 or both; and 6
158	158
159	159	2. shall restore the property taken to the owner or pay the 7
160	160	owner the value of the property or services. 8
161	161
162	162	[(2)] (3) Except as provided in paragraph [(3)] (4) of this subsection, a 9
163	163	person convicted of theft of property or services with a value of at least $100 but less than 10
164	164	$1,500, is guilty of a misdemeanor and: 11
165	165
166	166	(i) is subject to: 12
167	167
168	168	1. for a first conviction, imprisonment not exceeding 6 13
169	169	months or a fine not exceeding $500 or both; and 14
170	170
171	171	2. for a second or subsequent conviction, imprisonment not 15
172	172	exceeding 1 year or a fine not exceeding $500 or both; and 16
173	173
174	174	(ii) shall restore the property taken to the owner or pay the owner 17
175	175	the value of the property or services. 18
176	176
177	177	[(3)] (4) A person convicted of theft of property or services with a value of 19
178	178	less than $100 is guilty of a misdemeanor and: 20
179	179
180	180	(i) is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 90 days or a fine not 21
181	181	exceeding $500 or both; and 22
182	182
183	183	(ii) shall restore the property taken to the owner or pay the owner 23
184	184	the value of the property or services. 24
185	185
186	186	[(4)] (5) Subject to paragraph [(5)] (6) of this subsection, a person who 25
187	187	has four or more prior convictions under this subtitle and who is convicted of theft of 26
188	188	property or services with a value of less than $1,500 under paragraph [(2)] (3) of this 27
189	189	subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and: 28
190	190
191	191	(i) is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not 29
192	192	exceeding $5,000 or both; and 30
193	193
194	194	(ii) shall restore the property taken to the owner or pay the owner 31
195	195	the value of the property or services. 32 SENATE BILL 533 5
196	196
197	197
198	198
199	199	[(5)] (6) The court may not impose the penalties under paragraph [(4)] 1
200	200	(5) of this subsection unless the State’s Attorney serves notice on the defendant or the 2
201	201	defendant’s counsel before the acceptance of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or at least 3
202	202	15 days before trial that: 4
203	203
204	204	(i) the State will seek the penalties under paragraph [(4)] (5) of this 5
205	205	subsection; and 6
206	206
207	207	(ii) lists the alleged prior convictions. 7
208	208
209	209	(H) (1) A PERSON CONVICTED OF THEFT OF A HANDGUN , AS DEFINED IN 8
210	210	§ 5–101 OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY ARTICLE, IS GUILTY OF A FELON Y AND IS SUBJECT 9
211	211	TO: 10
212	212
213	213	(I) FOR A FIRST CONVICTI ON, IMPRISONMENT FOR NOT LESS 11
214	214	THAN 2 YEARS AND NOT EXCEED ING 5 YEARS OR A FINE NOT EXCEEDING $1,000 OR 12
215	215	BOTH; AND 13
216	216
217	217	(II) FOR A SECOND OR SUBS EQUENT CONVICTION , 14
218	218	IMPRISONMENT FOR NOT LESS THAN 5 YEARS AND NOT EXCEED ING 10 YEARS OR A 15
219	219	FINE NOT EXCEEDING $2,500 OR BOTH. 16
220	220
221	221	(2) NOTWITHSTANDING § 14–102 OF THIS ARTICLE, THE COURT MAY 17
222	222	NOT IMPOSE LESS THAN THE MANDATORY MINIMU M SENTENCE OF : 18
223	223
224	224	(I) FOR A FIRST CONVICTI ON, 2 YEARS; AND 19
225	225
226	226	(II) FOR A SECOND OR SUBS EQUENT CONVIC TION, 5 YEARS. 20
227	227
228	228	(3) THE COURT MAY NOT SUS PEND ANY PART OF THE MANDATORY 21
229	229	MINIMUM SENTENCE OF : 22
230	230
231	231	(I) FOR A FIRST CONVICTI ON, 2 YEARS; AND 23
232	232
233	233	(II) FOR A SECOND OR SUBS EQUENT CONVICTION , 5 YEARS. 24
234	234
235	235	(4) A SENTENCE IMPOSED UND ER PARAGRAPH (1) OF THIS 25
236	236	SUBSECTION SHALL BE SEPARATE FROM AND CO NSECUTIVE TO A SENTE NCE FOR 26
237	237	ANY OTHER OFFENSE . 27
238	238
239	239	[(h)] (I) (1) If a person is convicted of a violation under this section for failure 28
240	240	to pay for motor fuel after the motor fuel was dispensed into a vehicle, the court shall: 29
241	241	6 SENATE BILL 533
242	242
243	243
244	244	(i) notify the person that the person’s driver’s license may be 1
245	245	suspended under § 16–206.1 of the Transportation Article; and 2
246	246
247	247	(ii) notify the Motor Vehicle Administration of the violation. 3
248	248
249	249	(2) The Chief Judge of the District Court and the Administrative Office of 4
250	250	the Courts, in conjunction with the Motor Vehicle Administration, shall establish uniform 5
251	251	procedures for reporting a violation under this subsection. 6
252	252
253	253	[(i)] (J) An action or prosecution for a violation of subsection [(g)(2) or (3)] 7
254	254	(G)(3) OR (4) of this section shall be commenced within 2 years after the commission of 8
255	255	the crime. 9
256	256
257	257	[(j)] (K) A person who violates this section by use of an interactive computer 10
258	258	service may be prosecuted, indicted, tried, and convicted in any county in which the victim 11
259	259	resides or the electronic communication originated or terminated. 12
260	260
261	261	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 13
262	262	October 1, 2022. 14
263	263