Chapter
268
2006 -- S 2378 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/03/06
A N A C T
RELATING TO CRIMINAL
OFFENSES -- ASSAULTS
Introduced By: Senators
McCaffrey, Alves, Goodwin, Polisena, and F Caprio
Date Introduced: February
07, 2006
It is enacted
by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Sections 11-5-10.2, 11-5-11 and 11-5-12 of the General Laws in Chapter
11-5
entitled "Assaults" are hereby amended to read as follows:
11-5-10.2.
Assault on persons who are severely impaired causing serious bodily
injury.
-- Assault on persons
with severe impairments causing serious bodily injury. -- (a)
Any
person who shall commit an assault or battery, or both, upon a person who is
severely
impaired, with severe impairments causing serious
bodily injury, shall be deemed to have
committed
a felony and shall be imprisoned for not less than two (2) years but not more
than
twenty
(20) years, or fined not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or both.
Every person so
convicted
shall be ordered to make restitution to the victim of the offense or to perform
up to five
hundred
(500) hours of public community restitution work, or both, or any combination
of them
imposed
by the sentencing judge. The court may not waive the obligation to make
restitution
and/or
public community restitution work. The restitution and/or public community
restitution
work
shall be in addition to any fine or sentence which may be imposed and not in
lieu of the fine
or
sentence.
(b) "Serious bodily injury" means physical injury that:
(1) Creates a substantial risk of death, serious disfigurement;
(2) Causes protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily part,
member or
organ;
or
(3) Causes serious permanent disfigurement.
(c) For the purposes of this section,:
(1)
"adult" means a person over the age of eighteen (18).
(2)
"major life activities" means: (i) mobility; (ii) self-care; (iii)
communication; (iv)
receptive
and/or expressive language; (v) learning; (vi) self-direction; (vii) capacity
for
independent
living; or (viii) economic self-sufficiency.
(3)
"severely impaired person with severe impairments"
means a child or adult who has a
disability
which is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or combination of
mental and
physical
impairments and results in substantial functional limitations in one or more
major life
activities.
(d)
Violations of this section shall be reported to the local police department.
(e)
After July 1, 2007 pursuant to section 40-8.5-2, the local police department
may
request
the department of mental health, retardation, and hospitals provide crisis
intervention
services
for the adult victim with severe impairments when:
(1)
necessary to ensure the immediate health and safety of the adult victim; and
(2)
the adult victim relies on the person believed to have committed the assault
and/or
battery,
for assistance in performing three (3) or more major life activities.
11-5-11.
Assault on persons who are mentally retarded or severely impaired. --
Assault
on persons with severe impairments. -- (a) For the purposes of this section, "person
who
is mentally retarded" means a child or adult who has a mental disability
which is attributable
to:
(1) Mental retardation or autism; or
(2) Any other condition of a person found to be closely related to mental
retardation
because
the condition results in similar impairment of general intellectual functioning
or adaptive
behavior
to that of persons who are mentally retarded or requires treatment and services
similar to
those
required for such persons, and which constitutes a substantial limitation on
the person's
ability
to function normally in society.
(b) For the purposes of this section,:
(1) "adult" means a person over the age of eighteen (18).
(2) "major life activities" means: (i) mobility; (ii) self-care;
(iii) communication; (iv)
receptive
and/or expressive language; (v) learning; (vi) self-direction; (vii) capacity
for
independent
living; or (viii) economic self-sufficiency.
(3)
"person who is severely impaired with severe impairments"
means a child or adult
who has
a disability which is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or
combination of
mental
and physical impairments which results in a substantial limitation on the
person's ability to
function
independently in the family or community and in one or more major life activities.
The
phrase
"severely impaired" includes a person who is mentally retarded as
defined in subsection
(a)
of this section.
(c)(b) Any person who shall commit an assault and battery upon a
person who is
severely
impaired as defined in subsection (b)(a) of this section, causing
bodily injury, shall be
deemed
to have committed a felony and shall be imprisoned not exceeding five (5)
years, or fined
not
exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), or both.
(c)
Violations of this section shall be reported to the local police department.
(d)
After July 1, 2007 pursuant to section 40-8.5-2, the local police department
may
request
the department of mental health, retardation, and hospitals provide crisis
intervention
services
for the adult victim with severe impairments when:
(1)
necessary to ensure the immediate health and safety of the adult victim; and
(2)
the adult victim relies on the person believed to have committed the assault
and/or
battery,
for assistance in performing three (3) or more major life activities.
11-5-12.
Abuse and neglect of adults with severe impairments. – Abuse, neglect
and/or
exploitation of adults with severe impairments. -- (a) Any person primarily responsible
for the
care of an adult with severe impairments who shall willfully and knowingly
abuse, neglect
or
exploit that adult: (1) shall be subject to a fine of not more than three
two thousand dollars
($3,000)($2,000), or
imprisoned not more than one year, or both, and ordered to make full
restitution
of any funds as the result of any exploitation which results in the
misappropriation of
funds.
Every person convicted of or placed on probation for violation of this section
or whose
case is
filed pursuant to section 12-10-12 where the defendant pleads nolo contendere
shall be
ordered
by the sentencing judge to attend appropriate professional counseling to
address his or
her
abusive behavior; and (2) upon a conviction for a second or subsequent
violation shall be
subject
to a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or imprisoned not
more than
three
(3) years, or both, and ordered to make full restitution of any funds obtained
as the result of
any
exploitation which results in the misappropriation of funds. Every person
convicted of or
placed
on probation for violation of this section or whose case is filed pursuant to
section 12-10-
12 where
the defendant pleads nolo contendere shall be ordered by the sentencing judge
to attend
appropriate
professional counseling to address his or her abusive behavior.
(b) As used in this section:
(1) "Abuse" means the subjection of an adult with a severe impairment
to willful
infliction
of physical pain, willful deprivation of services necessary to maintain the
physical or
mental
health of the person, or unreasonable confinement.
(2) "Adult with severe impairments" means a person over the age of
eighteen (18) who
has a
disability which is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or
combination of mental
and
physical impairments and results in substantial functional limitations in three
(3) one or more
of the
following areas of major life activity: (i) mobility; (ii) self-care; (iii)
communication; (iv)
receptive
and/or expressive language; (v) learning; (vi) self-direction; (vii) capacity
for
independent
living; or (viii) economic self-sufficiency.
(3) "Exploitation" means an act or process of taking pecuniary
advantage of impaired
persons
by use of undue influence, harassment, duress, deception, false representation,
false
pretenses,
or misappropriation of funds.
(4)
"Neglect" means the willful refusal to provide services necessary to
maintain the
physical
or mental health of an adult with severe impairments.
(5) "Person primarily responsible for care" or
"caregiver" means any person who is for a
significant
period of time the primary caregiver or is primarily responsible for the
management of
the
funds of an adult with severe impairments.
(c) Violations of this section shall be reported to the local police
department.
(d) After July 1, 2007 pursuant to section 40-8.5-2, the local police
department may
request
the department of mental health, retardation, and hospitals provide crisis
intervention
services
for the adult victim with severe impairments when:
(1)
necessary to ensure the immediate health and safety of the adult victim; and
(2)
the adult victim relies on the person believed to have committed the abuse,
neglect
and/or
exploitation, for assistance in performing three (3) or more major life
activities
(d)(e) Any person who fails to report known or suspected abuse or
neglect shall be guilty
of a
misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be subject to a fine of not more than
five hundred
dollars
($500).
(e)(f) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to apply to
the discontinuance of life-
support
systems or life-sustaining treatment for an adult for whom, if the treatment
were
terminated,
death may result.
(f)(g) Any person participating in good faith in making a report
pursuant to this chapter,
excluding
any perpetrator or conspirator of the acts, shall have immunity from any civil
liability
that
might otherwise be incurred or imposed.
(g)(h) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to prohibit
the use of any medical or
psychological
treatment procedure designed and conducted in accordance with applicable
professional
standards when performed by appropriately trained personnel under the
supervision
of a
person or facility licensed or approved by the state of Rhode Island and when
any consent as
is
required by law has been obtained.
(h)(i) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to mean a
person is abused or neglected
for the
sole reason that the person is being furnished or relies upon treatment by
spiritual means
through
prayer alone in accordance with the tenets and practices of a church or
religious
denomination
recognized by the laws of this state.
SECTION
2. Chapter 40-8.5 of the General Laws entitled "Health Care for Elderly
and
Disabled
Residents Act" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:
40-8.5-2.
Services for adult victims with severe impairments of assault, abuse or
neglect. – Services for adult victims with severe impairments
of abuse, neglect and/or
exploitation.
-- (a) As used in this section
the terms:
(1)
"Adult victim with severe impairments" means:
(i)
a person over the age of eighteen (18) who has a disability which is
attributable to a
mental
or physical impairment or combination of mental and physical impairments and
results in
substantial
functional limitations in three (3) or more major life activities;
(ii)
is an alleged victim of abuse, neglect or exploitation pursuant to section
11-5-12; or
assault
pursuant to sections 11-5-10.2 or 11-5-11 by a caregiver of the victim;
(iii)
the adult victim relies on the person believed to have committed the abuse,
neglect,
and/or
exploitation, for assistance in performing three (3) or more major life
activities; and
(iv)
crisis intervention services are necessary to ensure the immediate health and
safety of
the
adult victim.
(2)
"Crisis intervention
services" means the short term provision of health care and
residential
services in the immediate hours and days following the abuse, neglect and/or
exploitation
of an adult victim with severe impairments;
(3)
"Major life activities" mean: (i) mobility; (ii) self-care; (iii)
communication; (iv)
receptive
and/or expressive language; (v) learning; (vi) self-direction; (vii) capacity
for
independent
living; or (viii) economic self-sufficiency; and
(4)
"Supportive services" means longer term support services for an adult
victim with
severe
impairments, and when appropriate that victim's family.
(b) After July 1, 2007,
local police departments may request the department of mental
health,
retardation, and hospitals provide crisis intervention services for the adult
victim with
severe
impairments when:
(1)
necessary to ensure the immediate health and safety of the adult victim; and
(2)
the adult victim with severe impairments relies on the person believed to have
committed
the abuse, neglect and/or exploitation for assistance in performing three (3)
or more
major
life activities.
(c)(1) If the department
of mental health, retardation, and hospitals determines that longer
term
supportive services are necessary, the victim and when appropriate that
victim's family will
be
referred to the public and private agencies and departments whose supportive
services are
within
its statutory and/or regulatory responsibility, as are needed by the victim.
(2)
In developing the supportive services care plan, the adult victim with severe
impairments'
rights to self-determination and lifestyle preferences commensurate with his or
her
needs
shall be of prime consideration.
(3)
If the adult victim with severe impairments withdraws consent or refuses to
accept
crisis
intervention or supportive services, the services shall not be provided.
(d) The department of
human services if hereby authorized to seek federal approval of a
state
plan amendment to its title XIX state plan to initiate crisis intervention
services and support
services
for adults who qualify for title XIX services and are victims of severe
impairments of
abuse,
assault, neglect or exploitation.
SECTION
3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01787/SUB A/2
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