HB 4847

Abstract

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a person is not accountable for the conduct of another if he or she was subjected to specific and credible coercion, compulsion, duress, or threats. Provides that no offense is excepted from the provision that a person is not guilty of an offense by reason of conduct that he or she performs under the compulsion of threat or menace of the imminent infliction of death or great bodily harm, if he or she reasonably believes death or great bodily harm will be inflicted upon him or her, or upon his or her spouse or child, if he or she does not perform that conduct. Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. In a provision concerning relief from judgments, changes the allegations a movant must establish when presenting a meritorious claim to: (1) the movant was convicted of a forcible felony; (2) the movant's participation in the offense was related to experiencing or the effects of gender-based violence; and (3) no substantial evidence or incomplete evidence of gender-based violence against the movant was presented at the movant's sentencing hearing. Changes the term "domestic violence" to "gender-based violence". Removes the definition of "intimate partner". Makes corresponding changes. House Floor Amendment No. 1 Replaces everything after the enacting clause with the provisions of the introduced bill, and makes the following changes: In the Criminal Code of 2012, removes language providing that no offense is excepted from the provision that a person is not guilty of an offense by reason of conduct that he or she performs under the compulsion of threat or menace of the imminent infliction of death or great bodily harm, if he or she reasonably believes death or great bodily harm will be inflicted upon him or her, or upon his or her spouse or child, if he or she does not perform that conduct. In the Code of Civil Procedure, restores language providing that a movant may present a meritorious claim if the allegations in the petition establish that the evidence of domestic violence or gender-based violence against the movant is material and noncumulative to other evidence offered at the sentencing hearing, and is of such a conclusive character that it would likely change the sentence imposed by the original trial court. Restores the term "domestic violence". Defines "gender-based" violence. Restores the definition of "intimate partner". Makes other changes.