By: Senator Dave Donley

Section 1: Bill title

Sections 2 and 3: The bill sections clarify the assault statues to eliminate a loophole identified in a 1991 Court of Appeals opinion, S.R.D. v. State, 817 P. 2d 484 (Alaska App. 1991).

Sections 4: The bill section increases the penalty for aggravated assaults committed against children under the age of 10 in response to several 1990 and 1991 child abuse cases investigated by APD.

Sections 5, 6, 7, and 9: The bill sections strengthens the sexual assault statute to eliminate loopholes identified during the 1991 prosecution of Anchorage gynecologist Dr. Kenneth Ake.

Section 8: The bill section strengthens the unlawful exploitation of a minor statute to close a loophole identified in the 1989 case involving former Anchorage police officer Frank Feichtinger.

Section 10: The bill section increases the penalties against armed drug dealers. The amendment was added in a 1992 Senate committee hearing in response to concerns raised by police officers.

Sections 11, 12, 13. 14 and 29: The bill sections make it a crime to shoot a firearm from a moving vehicle. The amendments are in response to 1991 "drive-by" shootings that occurred in Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Sections 15. 16, 17 and 18: The bill sections make it harder for minors to obtain stun guns and prohibit the possession of these weapons on school grounds, The amendments are in response to 1991 news reports about the use and possession of stun guns by minors in Anchorage.

Sections 19, 20, and 33: The bill sections extend the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse in response to the inability to prosecute a Tununak teacher and an APD officer for child sexual abuse in 1991.

Sections 21, 23, 24 and 30: The bill sections require a sentence of 99 years without possibility of probation or parole, for certain aggravated first degree murders. Rep. Dave Donley added the amendments in response to concerns raised by constituents in 1991.

Section 22: The bill section allows longer sentences for more serious crimes by clarifying the standard of proof that applies in sentencing proceedings (aggravaters and mitigators) in response to a 1991 recommendation by the Supreme Court's Criminal Rules Committee.

Sections 25 and 34: The bill sections contain technical amendments that respond to concerns raised during 1992 hearings on HB 396.

Section 26: The bill section toughens penalties for those guilty of multiple sex offenses by adding an aggravating factor recommended in 1992 by the Alaska Sentencing Commission.

Sections 27, 28, 31 and 32: The bill sections amend the sentencing statutes to require sex offender treatment before they can be considered for parole and strengthened mandatory sentencing in rape cases to prevent future occurrences of problems that occurred during the 1991 sentencing of Anchorage gynecologist Dr. Kenneth Ake.