Bill Would Change Homicide Definition

Murderers shouldn’t get off the hook just because their victim takes too long to die, according to Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint.

Keough introduced legislation Monday designed to change a law that now says a victim must die within one year and a day of the crime for the death to be considered a homicide.

“This is a very old law that needs to be revisited,” said Keough. “It made sense when the medical technology that keeps people alive wasn’t around. It was reasonable then.”

This bill, as well as the two other bills introduced by Keough on Monday, will be up for public hearings in the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee in the coming weeks.

Keough said her legislation was prompted by a case in which a victim suffered through a multiyear coma before dying. Keough also introduced a bill regarding punishment for aggravated drunken driving. The bill would allow a judge more freedom to decide how to sentence an offender by raising the maximum sentences.

“This doesn’t mandate anything. It simply gives the judge flexibility based on the severity of the crime,” Keough explained.

Her third piece of legislation requires authorities to give landlords more information when their property has been contaminated by hazardous waste due to methamphetamine production.

“Right now it’s difficult if not impossible for the owners to get that information,” Keough said. “Basically this is a disclosure bill to give owners the tools they need to clean up their property.”