The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard Sen. Young’s SB 424 on various crimes. The bill provides the following:
- amends crime of strangulation to include application of pressure to a victim’s torso, and increases the penalty to a Level 5 felony if it is knowingly committed against a pregnant woman
- creates an enhancement to obstruction of justice if a person interferes with a witness during the investigation or pendency of a domestic violence or child abuse case
- increases the penalty for receiving stolen auto parts if the person has a prior conviction
- defines “drug related felony”, and requires the Division of State Court Administration to report certain drug related felonies to the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx) so that NPLEx can generate a stop sale alert to prevent individuals with drug related felonies from purchasing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine
- provides that the offense of possession of a precursor by a methamphetamine offender (which prohibits the possession of pseudoephedrine or ephedrine without a prescription by persons convicted of certain offenses) applies to a person who has been convicted of a drug related felony
- makes criminal mischief: (1) a Class B misdemeanor if the pecuniary loss is less than $250; (2) a Class A misdemeanor if the pecuniary loss is at least $250 but less than $750; (3) a Level 6 felony if the pecuniary loss is at least $750 but less than $50,000; and (4) a Level 5 felony if the pecuniary loss is at least $50,000.
The provision on strangulation was supported by the Marion County Prosecutor, the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, and the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The Indiana Public Defender Council testified against the strangulation amendment on the basis of proportionality. The bill was amended by consent and passed 6-1.
Read the bill at: https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2017/bills/senate/424