Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 1274, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of this bill is to establish extreme mental or emotional disturbance as an affirmative defense to murder or attempted murder.

Your Committee finds that establishing extreme mental or emotional disturbance (EMED) as an affirmative defense requires the defense to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant suffers from EMED. Under existing law, a defendant charged with murder or attempted murder need not raise EMED as a defense, and may not legitimately have EMED, and yet the prosecution must still disprove that the defendant suffers from EMED.

Your Committee amended the bill, however, by replacing the reasonable person standard. Specifically, the bill is amended by:

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1274, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1274, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, C.D. 1.