HF 22

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to criminal justice; modifying sentencing 
  1.3             practices for certain dangerous and repeat felony 
  1.4             offenders; amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 
  1.5             609.1095. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 609.1095, is 
  1.8   amended to read: 
  1.9      609.1095 [INCREASED SENTENCES FOR CERTAIN DANGEROUS AND 
  1.10  REPEAT FELONY OFFENDERS.] 
  1.11     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) As used in this section, 
  1.12  the following terms have the meanings given.  
  1.13     (b) "Conviction" means any of the following accepted and 
  1.14  recorded by the court:  a plea of guilty, a verdict of guilty by 
  1.15  a jury, or a finding of guilty by the court.  The term includes 
  1.16  a conviction by any court in Minnesota or another jurisdiction.  
  1.17     (c) "Prior conviction felony" means a conviction that 
  1.18  occurred before the offender committed the next felony resulting 
  1.19  in a conviction and felony committed before the offense for 
  1.20  which the offender is being sentenced under this section.  The 
  1.21  offender must be convicted of the prior felony, however, the 
  1.22  conviction need not occur before the offense for which the 
  1.23  offender is being sentenced under this section.  
  1.24     (d) "Violent crime" means a violation of or an attempt or 
  1.25  conspiracy to violate any of the following laws of this state or 
  2.1   any similar laws of the United States or any other state:  
  2.2   section 609.165; 609.185; 609.19; 609.195; 609.20; 609.205; 
  2.3   609.21; 609.221; 609.222; 609.223; 609.228; 609.235; 609.24; 
  2.4   609.245; 609.25; 609.255; 609.2661; 609.2662; 609.2663; 
  2.5   609.2664; 609.2665; 609.267; 609.2671; 609.268; 609.342; 
  2.6   609.343; 609.344; 609.345; 609.498, subdivision 1; 609.561; 
  2.7   609.562; 609.582, subdivision 1; 609.66, subdivision 1e; 
  2.8   609.687; 609.855, subdivision 5; any provision of sections 
  2.9   609.229; 609.377; 609.378; 609.749; and 624.713 that is 
  2.10  punishable by a felony penalty; or any provision of chapter 152 
  2.11  that is punishable by a maximum sentence of 15 years or more. 
  2.12     Subd. 2.  [INCREASED SENTENCES FOR DANGEROUS OFFENDER WHO 
  2.13  COMMITS A THIRD VIOLENT CRIME.] Whenever a person is convicted 
  2.14  of a violent crime that is a felony, and the judge is imposing 
  2.15  an executed sentence based on a sentencing guidelines 
  2.16  presumptive imprisonment sentence, the judge may impose an 
  2.17  aggravated durational departure from the presumptive 
  2.18  imprisonment sentence up to the statutory maximum sentence if 
  2.19  the offender was at least 18 years old at the time the felony 
  2.20  was committed, and: 
  2.21     (1) the court determines on the record at the time of 
  2.22  sentencing that the offender has committed two or more prior 
  2.23  convictions for felonies that were violent crimes; and 
  2.24     (2) the court finds that the offender is a danger to public 
  2.25  safety and specifies on the record the basis for the finding, 
  2.26  which may include: 
  2.27     (i) the offender's past criminal behavior, such as the 
  2.28  offender's high frequency rate of criminal activity or juvenile 
  2.29  adjudications, or long involvement in criminal activity 
  2.30  including juvenile adjudications; or 
  2.31     (ii) the fact that the present offense of conviction 
  2.32  involved an aggravating factor that would justify a durational 
  2.33  departure under the sentencing guidelines. 
  2.34     Subd. 3.  [MANDATORY SENTENCE FOR DANGEROUS OFFENDER WHO 
  2.35  COMMITS A THIRD VIOLENT FELONY.] (a) Unless a longer mandatory 
  2.36  minimum sentence is otherwise required by law or the court 
  3.1   imposes a longer aggravated durational departure under 
  3.2   subdivision 2, a person who is convicted of a violent crime that 
  3.3   is a felony must be committed to the commissioner of corrections 
  3.4   for a mandatory sentence of at least the length of the 
  3.5   presumptive sentence under the sentencing guidelines if the 
  3.6   court determines on the record at the time of sentencing that 
  3.7   the person has committed two or more prior felony convictions 
  3.8   for felonies that were violent crimes.  The court shall impose 
  3.9   and execute the prison sentence regardless of whether the 
  3.10  guidelines presume an executed prison sentence.  
  3.11     Any person convicted and sentenced as required by this 
  3.12  subdivision is not eligible for probation, parole, discharge, or 
  3.13  work release, until that person has served the full term of 
  3.14  imprisonment imposed by the court, notwithstanding sections 
  3.15  241.26, 242.19, 243.05, 244.04, 609.12, and 609.135.  
  3.16     (b) For purposes of this subdivision, "violent crime" does 
  3.17  not include a violation of section 152.023 or 152.024. 
  3.18     Subd. 4.  [INCREASED SENTENCE FOR OFFENDER WHO COMMITS A 
  3.19  SIXTH FELONY.] Whenever a person is convicted of a felony, and 
  3.20  the judge is imposing an executed sentence based on a sentencing 
  3.21  guidelines presumptive imprisonment sentence, the judge may 
  3.22  impose an aggravated durational departure from the presumptive 
  3.23  sentence up to the statutory maximum sentence if the judge finds 
  3.24  and specifies on the record that the offender has committed five 
  3.25  or more prior felony convictions felonies and that the present 
  3.26  offense is a felony that was committed as part of a pattern of 
  3.27  criminal conduct.