STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2476

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 3023
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No.
3023 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRIME,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to clarify that the court may
impose a cumulative sentence for the use of a firearm in the
commission of a felony in addition to any mandatory minimum
sentence imposed for a felony that was committed using a firearm.

     Your Committee finds that existing sentencing laws are
unclear as to whether a person convicted of both the use of a
firearm during a felony and the underlying felony may still be
given a mandatory minimum sentence for the underlying felony
based on the use of the firearm.  Although imposing an elevated
sentence based on the same conduct that resulted in the separate
firearm felony conviction does result in what is essentially a
double punishment for the same act, your Committee believes this
is appropriate based on the legislature's history of singling out
felonies committed using firearms for particularly strict
punishment.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the
Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Maui, and
the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County
of Honolulu.  Testimony in opposition to this measure was
submitted by the Office of the Public Defender.


 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2476
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     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
measure by:

     (1)  Deleting the preamble; and

     (2)  Clarifying the language of the new subsection (5) of
          section 706-660.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to be
          consistent with a similar provision added by Act 12,
          Session Laws of Hawaii, 1999 to section 134-6, Hawaii
          Revised Statutes.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No.
3023, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second
Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3023, S.D. 1, and
be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Judiciary,



                                   ______________________________
                                   AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair

 
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