1/9/19 19:44
COIR ceWNe
2019 SESSION
INTRODUCED
19103652D
HOUSE BILL NO. 2615
Offered January 9, 2019
A BILL to amend and reenact § 18.2-31 of the Code of Virginia, relating to capital murder;
law-enforcement officers and fire marshals; reduction of charges.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 18.2-31 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 18.2-31. Capital murder defined; punishment.
A. The following offenses shall constitute capital murder, punishable as a Class 1 felony:
1. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person in the commission of abduction, as
defined in § 18.2-48, when such abduction was committed with the intent to extort money or a
pecuniary benefit or with the intent to defile the victim of such abduction;
2. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person by another for hire;
3. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person by a prisoner confined in a state or
local correctional facility as defined in § 53.1-1, or while in the custody of an employee thereof;
4. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person in the commission of robbery or
attempted robbery;
5. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person in the commission of, or subsequent
to, rape or attempted rape, forcible sodomy, or attempted forcible sodomy or object sexual penetration;
6. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of a law-enforcement officer as defined in
§ 9.1-101, a fire marshal appointed pursuant to § 27-30 or a deputy or an assistant fire marshal
appointed pursuant to § 27-36, when such fire marshal or deputy or assistant fire marshal has police
powers as set forth in §§ 27-34.2 and 27-34.2:1, an auxiliary police officer appointed or provided for
pursuant to §§ 15.2-1731 and 15.2-1733, an auxiliary deputy sheriff appointed pursuant to § 15.2-1603,
or any law-enforcement officer of another state or the United States having the power to arrest for a
felony under the laws of such state or the United States, when such killing is for the purpose of
interfering with the performance of his official duties;
7. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of more than one person as a part of the same act
or transaction;
8. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of more than one person within a three-year
period;
9. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person in the commission of or attempted
commission of a violation of § 18.2-248, involving a Schedule I or II controlled substance, when such
killing is for the purpose of furthering the commission or attempted commission of such violation;
10. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person by another pursuant to the
direction or order of one who is engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise as defined in subsection I
of § 18.2-248;
11. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of a pregnant woman by one who knows that the
woman is pregnant and has the intent to cause the involuntary termination of the woman's pregnancy
without a live birth;
12. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of a person under the age of fourteen 14 by a
person age twenty-one 21 or older;
13. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person by another in the commission of
or attempted commission of an act of terrorism as defined in § 18.2-46.4;
14. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of a justice of the Supreme Court, a judge of the
Court of Appeals, a judge of a circuit court or district court, a retired judge sitting by designation or
under temporary recall, or a substitute judge appointed under § 16.1-69.9:1 when the killing is for the
purpose of interfering with his official duties as a judge; and
15. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any witness in a criminal case after a
subpoena has been issued for such witness by the court, the clerk, or an attorney, when the killing is for
the purpose of interfering with the person's duties in such case.
B. No person charged with a violation of subdivision A 6 shall have his capital murder charge
reduced or amended in any manner. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as restricting the
Commonwealth's authority to reduce or amend any other pending charges.
C. If any one or more subsections, sentences, or parts of this section shall be judged unconstitutional
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59 or invalid, such adjudication shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remaining provisions thereof but
60 shall be confined in its operation to the specific provisions so held unconstitutional or invalid.
