South Carolina General Assembly
120th Session, 2013-2014

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H. 3348

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. McCoy, Patrick, Harrell and Pope
Document Path: l:\council\bills\ms\7062ahb13.docx
Companion/Similar bill(s): 273

Introduced in the House on January 16, 2013
Currently residing in the House Committee on Judiciary

Summary: Assault and battery offenses

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1/16/2013  House   Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 15)
   1/16/2013  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 15)

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

1/16/2013

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 16-3-600, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO ASSAULT AND BATTERY OFFENSES, SO AS TO REDEFINE THE TERM "MODERATE BODILY INJURY" AND TO INCLUDE INJURY TO ANOTHER PERSON WHEN THE ACT IS ACCOMPLISHED BY THE USE OF A DEADLY WEAPON IN THE PURVIEW OF THE OFFENSES OF ASSAULT AND BATTERY OF A HIGH AND AGGRAVATED NATURE AND ASSAULT AND BATTERY IN THE FIRST DEGREE.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Section 16-3-600 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 39 of 2011, is further amended to read:

"Section 16-3-600.    (A)    For purposes of this section:

(1)    'Great bodily injury' means bodily injury which causes a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ.

(2)    'Moderate bodily injury' means physical injury requiring treatment to an organ system of the body other than the skin, muscles, and connective tissues of the body, except when there is penetration of the skin, muscles, and connective tissues that require surgical repair of a complex nature or when treatment of the injuries requires the use of regional or general anesthesia that involves loss of consciousness, or that requires medical treatment but does not cause a substantial risk of death or which does not cause serious, permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ.

(3)    'Private parts' means the genital area or buttocks of a male or female or the breasts of a female.

(B)(1)    A person commits the offense of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature if the person unlawfully injures another person, and:

(a)    great bodily injury to another person results; or

(b)    the act is accomplished by the use of a deadly weapon; or

(c)    the act is accomplished by means likely to produce death or great bodily injury.

(2)    A person who violates this subsection is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than twenty years.

(3)    Assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature is a lesser-included offense of attempted murder, as defined in Section 16-3-29.

(C)(1)    A person commits the offense of assault and battery in the first degree if the person unlawfully:

(a)    injures another person, and the act:

(i)        involves nonconsensual touching of the private parts of a person, either under or above clothing, with lewd and lascivious intent; or

(ii)    occurred during the commission of a robbery, burglary, kidnapping, or theft; or

(b)    offers or attempts to injure another person with the present ability to do so, and the act:

(i)        is accomplished by means likely to produce death or great bodily injury; or

(ii)    is accomplished by the use of a deadly weapon; or

(iii)    occurred during the commission of a robbery, burglary, kidnapping, or theft.

(2)    A person who violates this subsection is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than ten years.

(3)    Assault and battery in the first degree is a lesser-included offense of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, as defined in subsection (B)(1), and attempted murder, as defined in

Section 16-3-29.

(D)(1)    A person commits the offense of assault and battery in the second degree if the person unlawfully injures another person, or offers or attempts to injure another person with the present ability to do so, and:

(a)    moderate bodily injury to another person results or moderate bodily injury to another person could have resulted; or

(b)    the act involves the nonconsensual touching of the private parts of a person, either under or above clothing.

(2)    A person who violates this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two thousand five hundred dollars, or imprisoned for not more than three years, or both.

(3)    Assault and battery in the second degree is a lesser-included offense of assault and battery in the first degree, as defined in subsection (C)(1), assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, as defined in subsection (B)(1), and attempted murder, as defined in Section 16-3-29.

(E)(1)    A person commits the offense of assault and battery in the third degree if the person unlawfully injures another person, or offers or attempts to injure another person with the present ability to do so.

(2)    A person who violates this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both.

(3)    Assault and battery in the third degree is a lesser-included offense of assault and battery in the second degree, as defined in subsection (D)(1), assault and battery in the first degree, as defined in subsection (C)(1), assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, as defined in subsection (B)(1), and attempted murder, as defined in Section 16-3-29."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on March 5, 2013 at 4:50 PM