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Behind the Badge
By Sgt. Jim Adams
During a microphone test in 1984, President Ronald Reagan stated: “My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation, which outlaws Russia. The bombing begins in five minutes.”
Fortunately, he was joking.
There are, however, several new laws and updates to old ones, which you might find mildly to wildly interesting. There are also a few laws we all wish had made it that just weren’t considered.
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You’ve all heard the saying that “ignorance of the law is no excuse.” There is truth to that statement in the form of Arizona Revised Statute 13-204, which indicates specifically that “mistake as to a matter of law does not relieve the person of criminal responsibility.” With that in mind, let’s press forward.
The Arizona Prosecuting Attorney’s Advisory Council recently published the results of the first regular session of the 48th Legislature. I have taken a moment to enlighten you as to the particulars.
Under sentencing reform, if a person incarcerated in the state Department of Corrections commits a crime while serving as an inmate, their new sentence upon conviction will run consecutively to the one they were already serving. In other words, it will be added to the back side of their present term of imprisonment. Department of Corrections also has recently obtained the authority to withdraw portions of a prisoner’s incarceration account to pay court ordered restitution.
There is new legislation in effect to punish persons committing crimes in furtherance of a criminal street gang and expands the criteria for identifying a gang member to include “use of a common name, sign, or symbol.” This law further amends the statute covering non-bailable offenses to consider membership in a criminal street gang as proof that the person poses a “substantial danger to the community” and that no condition of release will “reasonably assure the safety of a particular person or the community.”
A police report for theft of means of transportation (auto theft) now requires an affidavit from the victim affirming they are making a truthful report. Making a false claim is subject to criminal prosecution and is punishable as a misdemeanor. When some of the larger Arizona agencies went to this policy, the volume of Auto Theft reports dropped dramatically. Suspicious.
In an effort to combat the significant influx of copper thefts, scrap metal dealers are now mandated to report transactions to the state. This will hopefully narrow the avenues thieves utilize to fence their stolen wares. In addition, this law also enhances sanctions for stealing wiring from existing structures, construction sites, and for tampering with a utility.
Some of the new laws target traffic-related crimes and increase penalties for hit and run accidents as well as violations of the DUI statutes. DUI convictions now include mandatory jail time and installation of an “ignition interlock device.” This device requires that the driver blow into it (and register no alcohol on their breath) before the car will start. In cases where the obtained blood alcohol concentration is 0.20 or more, the offender will receive a sentence involving 45 days in jail (as a reference, the “legal limit” is 0.08). A second offense conviction carries a jail term of 180 days. I’m of the opinion that six months in the gray-bar motel would be rather sobering.
Along the same lines, any person who is charged with driving on a suspended, revoked or canceled license will now have their vehicle towed for 30 days. This also applies to persons cited for not having an ignition interlock device on their car if one is required subsequent to a previous DUI arrest. Recovering the car after the 30-day period has expired involves paying a $150 administrative fee to the respective Law Enforcement agency on top of the tow and impound fees that accrue during that time.
The final item relative to DUI investigations relieves health care workers of liability for providing law enforcement with blood alcohol readings on patients admitted to the hospital who are under investigation for DUI offenses.
Another piece of new legislation now permits a police officer or firefighter to petition the court for an order authorizing testing of an individual for HIV if the petitioner was exposed to the subject’s blood or other body fluids through assault-related behavior. An additional law expands the list of communicable diseases contracted as a result of a significant exposure event that are covered under worker’s compensation.
From the miscellaneous files, the original jurisdiction limit for justices of the peace in civil litigation (small claims court) has been increased to $10,000 and anti-freeze sold after Jan. 1, 2008, must have a bittering agent in it to make it less desirable to animals.
All of these are great laws, but not all went as well as hoped. Despite intense lobbying efforts on my part, the courts declined to establish some form of law regulating when stores can display Christmas decorations — not before Halloween, for example. I’m guessing that my bid to criminalize using exact change in the checkout line will also be ignored. A caption from the cartoon, Guindon, might have said it best: “Whatever their other contributions to our society, lawyers could be an important source of protein.”
Thank you for your continued support of Sierra Vista’s finest!
Sgt. Jim Adams is a veteran city police officer with 17 years on the force. His service includes Special Operations as a detective, Patrol Bureau, and he is a founding member of the Special Response Team.
Sgt Jim Adams wrote on Nov 22, 2007 8:21 AM: