Criminal defenses.

WORKING DRAFT
2013
STATE OF
WYOMING
13LSO-0325

HOUSE BILL
NO.

HB0067

Criminal defenses.

Sponsored by:
Representative(s) Gingery

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to
crimes and offenses; specifying that common-law defenses are abolished; specifying how defenses apply; repealing a
conflicting
provision;

providing applicability;
and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.

W.S. 6
‑
1
‑
102
(
b)
is amended to read:

6
‑
1
‑
102.

Common-law crimes abolished; common-law defenses
abolished; defenses specified
.

(b)

Common-law defenses are
retained unless otherwise provided by this ac
t

abolished
.

This
sub
section does not limit the power of the court to use case law as
an
interpretive aid in the construction of this act. The following
shall apply
to defenses
in Wyoming:

(
i
)

Duress. N
o person may be convicted of a crime based upon conduct in which that person engaged because of the use or threatened use of unlawful force upon himself

or another person
and
a reasonable person in that situation would have been lawfully unable to resist
that force or threatened use of force
;

(ii)

Self-induced
intoxication
shall apply as provided in W.S. 6
‑
1
‑
202
;

(iii)

Propensity.
A morbid propensity to commit prohibited acts existing in the mind of a person who is not shown to have been incapable of knowing the wrongfulness of such acts
is
no defense to a prosecution therefor
;

(iv)

Self-defense
.
Any person may lawfully resist, by force or violence, the commission of any
offense as follows:

(A
)

Any person, upon reasonable apprehension of threat of bodily injury, may make sufficient resistance to prevent an offense against his person or the person of any family or household member, or
to prevent an illegal attempt by force to take or injure property in his
lawful possession;

(B
)

Any person may make sufficient resistance in aid or defense of any other person, threatened with bodily injury, to prevent such
offense;

(C)

Any person may use defensive force
as provided in W.S. 6
‑
2
‑
602.

(v)

Insanity.
Insanity is an affirmative defense to a prosecution for any criminal offense. Mental disease or defect does not otherwise constitute a defense. The defendant has the burden of proving the defense of insanity by clear and convincing evidence
;

(vi)

Infancy
.
Those who have not reached the age of ten
(10)
years are exempt from criminal responsibility. However, nothing in this article shall affect the jurisdiction of juvenile courts as esta
blished by the
statutes of this state
;

(vii)

Mistake of fact.
Unless there is a provision to the contrary in the definition of a crime,
reasonable ignorance of fact or mistake of fact which precludes the presence of any mental element required in that crime is a defense to any prosecution for that crime
;

(viii)

Mistake of law.
Ignorance of the provision of th
e Wyoming s
tatutes
or of any criminal statute is not a defense to any criminal prosecution. However, mistake of law which results in the lack of an intention that consequences which are criminal shall follow, is a defense to a criminal prosecution under the f
ollowing circumstances:

(A)

Where the offender reasonably relied on
an
act of the legislature in repealing
an existing criminal provision
or in otherwise purporting to make th
e offender's conduct lawful; or

(B
)

Where the offender reasonably relied on a final judgment of a competent court of last resort that a provision making the conduct in question criminal was unconstitutional.

(ix)

Battered woman syndrome shall apply as provided in W.S. 6
‑
1
‑
203.

Section 2.

W.S. 6
‑
2
‑
6
01 is repealed.

Section 3.

This act does not apply
to crimes committed prior to the effective date of this act. Prosecutions for a crime shall be governed by the law in effect on the date when the crime occurred. A crime was committed prior to the effective date of this act if any of the elements of the crime occurred prior to the effective date of this act.

Section 4
.

This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(END)

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HB0067