1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to crime; witness tampering; increasing 
  1.3             criminal penalties for certain witness tampering 
  1.4             crimes that involve great bodily harm or death, or 
  1.5             clear, credible, and unequivocal threats of great 
  1.6             bodily harm or death; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.7             1996, section 609.498, by adding a subdivision. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 609.498, is 
  1.10  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 1b.  [AGGRAVATED FIRST-DEGREE WITNESS TAMPERING.] (a) 
  1.12  A person is guilty of aggravated first-degree witness tampering 
  1.13  if the person causes or, by means of a clear, credible, and 
  1.14  unequivocal threat, threatens to cause great bodily harm or 
  1.15  death to another in the course of committing any of the 
  1.16  following acts intentionally: 
  1.17     (1) preventing or dissuading or attempting to prevent or 
  1.18  dissuade a person who is or may become a witness from attending 
  1.19  or testifying at any criminal trial or proceeding; 
  1.20     (2) coercing or attempting to coerce a person who is or may 
  1.21  become a witness to testify falsely at any criminal trial or 
  1.22  proceeding; 
  1.23     (3) retaliating against a person who was summoned as a 
  1.24  witness at any criminal trial or proceeding within a year 
  1.25  following that trial or proceeding or within a year following 
  1.26  the actor's release from incarceration, whichever is later; 
  2.1      (4) preventing or dissuading or attempting to prevent or 
  2.2   dissuade a person from providing information to law enforcement 
  2.3   authorities concerning a crime; 
  2.4      (5) coercing or attempting to coerce a person to provide 
  2.5   false information concerning a crime to law enforcement 
  2.6   authorities; or 
  2.7      (6) retaliating against any person who has provided 
  2.8   information to law enforcement authorities concerning a crime 
  2.9   within a year of that person providing the information or within 
  2.10  a year of the actor's release from incarceration, whichever is 
  2.11  later. 
  2.12     (b) A person convicted of committing any act prohibited by 
  2.13  paragraph (a) may be sentenced as follows: 
  2.14     (1) if the crime that was the subject of the witness 
  2.15  tampering conduct is ranked at severity level VII or higher by 
  2.16  the sentencing guidelines or is punishable by a mandatory prison 
  2.17  sentence, to imprisonment for not more than 20 years or to 
  2.18  payment of a fine of not more than $30,000, or both; 
  2.19     (2) otherwise, to imprisonment for not more than ten years 
  2.20  or to payment of a fine of not more than $20,000, or both. 
  2.21     Sec. 2.  [SENTENCING GUIDELINES DIRECTIVE.] 
  2.22     The sentencing guidelines commission shall rank aggravated 
  2.23  first-degree witness tampering crimes that are subject to the 
  2.24  sentence provided in Minnesota Statutes, section 609.498, 
  2.25  subdivision 1b, paragraph (b), clause (1), at severity level 
  2.26  VIII. 
  2.27     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  2.28     Sections 1 and 2 are effective August 1, 1997, and apply to 
  2.29  crimes committed on or after that date.