Bill Text: CT HB05345 | 2012 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

---

Bill Title: An Act Concerning The Powers Of Certain Agents And Officers Of The United States Secret Service.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-04-19 - Senate Calendar Number 390 [HB05345 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2012-HB05345-Comm_Sub.html

---

General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 5345
February Session, 2012		LCO No. 1613
		*_____HB05345JUD___041112____*
Referred to Committee on Public Safety and Security
Introduced by:
(PS)

AN ACT CONCERNING THE POWERS OF CERTAIN AGENTS AND OFFICERS OF THE UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 53a-19 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2012):

(a) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, a person is justified in using reasonable physical force upon another person to defend himself or a third person from what he reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of physical force, and he may use such degree of force which he reasonably believes to be necessary for such purpose; except that deadly physical force may not be used unless the actor reasonably believes that such other person is (1) using or about to use deadly physical force, or (2) inflicting or about to inflict great bodily harm.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, a person is not justified in using deadly physical force upon another person if he or she knows that he or she can avoid the necessity of using such force with complete safety (1) by retreating, except that the actor shall not be required to retreat if he or she is in his or her dwelling, as defined in section 53a-100, or place of work and was not the initial aggressor, or if he or she is a peace officer, a special policeman appointed under section 29-18b, [or] a motor vehicle inspector designated under section 14-8 and certified pursuant to section 7-294d, a sworn special agent or sworn uniformed division officer of the United States Secret Service or a private person assisting such peace officer, special policeman, [or] motor vehicle inspector, agent or officer at his or her direction, and acting pursuant to section 53a-22, as amended by this act, or (2) by surrendering possession of property to a person asserting a claim of right thereto, or (3) by complying with a demand that he or she abstain from performing an act which he or she is not obliged to perform.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, a person is not justified in using physical force when (1) with intent to cause physical injury or death to another person, he provokes the use of physical force by such other person, or (2) he is the initial aggressor, except that his use of physical force upon another person under such circumstances is justifiable if he withdraws from the encounter and effectively communicates to such other person his intent to do so, but such other person notwithstanding continues or threatens the use of physical force, or (3) the physical force involved was the product of a combat by agreement not specifically authorized by law.

Sec. 2. Section 53a-22 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2012):

(a) For purposes of this section, a reasonable belief that a person has committed an offense means a reasonable belief in facts or circumstances which if true would in law constitute an offense. If the believed facts or circumstances would not in law constitute an offense, an erroneous though not unreasonable belief that the law is otherwise does not render justifiable the use of physical force to make an arrest or to prevent an escape from custody. A peace officer, special policeman appointed under section 29-18b, motor vehicle inspector designated under section 14-8 and certified pursuant to section 7-294d, [or] authorized official of the Department of Correction or the Board of Pardons and Paroles or sworn special agent or sworn uniformed division officer of the United States Secret Service who is effecting an arrest pursuant to a warrant or preventing an escape from custody is justified in using the physical force prescribed in subsections (b) and (c) of this section unless such warrant is invalid and is known by such officer to be invalid.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (a) of this section, a peace officer, special policeman appointed under section 29-18b, motor vehicle inspector designated under section 14-8 and certified pursuant to section 7-294d, [or] authorized official of the Department of Correction or the Board of Pardons and Paroles or sworn special agent or sworn uniformed division officer of the United States Secret Service is justified in using physical force upon another person when and to the extent that he or she reasonably believes such to be necessary to: (1) Effect an arrest or prevent the escape from custody of a person whom he or she reasonably believes to have committed an offense, unless he or she knows that the arrest or custody is unauthorized; or (2) defend himself or herself or a third person from the use or imminent use of physical force while effecting or attempting to effect an arrest or while preventing or attempting to prevent an escape.

(c) A peace officer, special policeman appointed under section 29-18b, motor vehicle inspector designated under section 14-8 and certified pursuant to section 7-294d, [or] authorized official of the Department of Correction or the Board of Pardons and Paroles or sworn special agent or sworn uniformed division officer of the United States Secret Service is justified in using deadly physical force upon another person for the purposes specified in subsection (b) of this section only when he or she reasonably believes such to be necessary to: (1) Defend himself or herself or a third person from the use or imminent use of deadly physical force; or (2) effect an arrest or prevent the escape from custody of a person whom he or she reasonably believes has committed or attempted to commit a felony which involved the infliction or threatened infliction of serious physical injury and if, where feasible, he or she has given warning of his or her intent to use deadly physical force.

(d) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, a person who has been directed by a peace officer, special policeman appointed under section 29-18b, motor vehicle inspector designated under section 14-8 and certified pursuant to section 7-294d, [or] authorized official of the Department of Correction or the Board of Pardons and Paroles or sworn special agent or sworn uniformed division officer of the United States Secret Service to assist such peace officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector, [or] official, agent or officer to effect an arrest or to prevent an escape from custody is justified in using reasonable physical force when and to the extent that he or she reasonably believes such to be necessary to carry out such peace officer's, special policeman's, motor vehicle inspector's, [or] official's, agent's or officer's direction.

(e) A person who has been directed to assist a peace officer, special policeman appointed under section 29-18b, motor vehicle inspector designated under section 14-8 and certified pursuant to section 7-294d, [or] authorized official of the Department of Correction or the Board of Pardons and Paroles or sworn special agent or sworn uniformed division officer of the United States Secret Service under circumstances specified in subsection (d) of this section may use deadly physical force to effect an arrest or to prevent an escape from custody only when: (1) He or she reasonably believes such to be necessary to defend himself or herself or a third person from what he or she reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of deadly physical force; or (2) he or she is directed or authorized by such peace officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector, [or] official, agent or officer to use deadly physical force, unless he or she knows that the peace officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector, [or] official, agent or officer himself or herself is not authorized to use deadly physical force under the circumstances.

(f) A private person acting on his or her own account is justified in using reasonable physical force upon another person when and to the extent that he or she reasonably believes such to be necessary to effect an arrest or to prevent the escape from custody of an arrested person whom he or she reasonably believes to have committed an offense and who in fact has committed such offense; but he or she is not justified in using deadly physical force in such circumstances, except in defense of person as prescribed in section 53a-19, as amended by this act.

Sec. 3. Section 53a-23 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2012):

A person is not justified in using physical force to resist an arrest by a reasonably identifiable peace officer, special policeman appointed under section 29-18b, [or] motor vehicle inspector designated under section 14-8 and certified pursuant to section 7-294d or sworn special agent or sworn uniformed division officer of the United States Secret Service, whether such arrest is legal or illegal.

Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2012) Any sworn special agent of the United States Secret Service shall have the same authority as police officers in this state to (1) obtain and serve search warrants and arrest warrants with respect to financial crimes, and (2) arrest without previous complaint and warrant any person such agent has reasonable grounds to believe has committed or is committing a felony in such agent's presence. As used in this section, "financial crime" means a violation of section 53-388a, 53a-122, 53a-123, 53a-124, 53a-125, 53a-125a, 53a-125b, 53a-127b, 53a-128, 53a-128b, 53a-128c, 53a-128d, 53a-128e, 53a-128f, 53a-128g, 53a-129b, 53a-129c, 53a-129d, 53a-129e, 53a-138, 53a-139, 53a-140, 53a-141, 53a-142, 53a-252, 53a-253, 53a-254, 53a-255, 53a-256, 53a-276, 53a-277, 53a-278 or 53a-279 of the general statutes.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2012	53a-19
Sec. 2	October 1, 2012	53a-22
Sec. 3	October 1, 2012	53a-23
Sec. 4	October 1, 2012	New section

PS	Joint Favorable
JUD	Joint Favorable