Bill Text: CT HB05153 | 2010 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

Connecticut House Bill 5153 (Prior Session Legislation)

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

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-15 - Favorable Change of Reference, Senate to Committee on Judiciary [HB05153 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2010-HB05153-Comm_Sub.html

General Assembly		*Substitute Bill No. 5153*
*February Session, 2010*		_____HB05153PS_JUD030910____

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

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

Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 53a-19 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2010):

(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 or a special policeman appointed under section 29-18b, a Department of Motor Vehicles inspector appointed under section 14-8 and certified pursuant to section 7-294d, [or] a private person assisting such peace officer, special policeman or motor vehicle inspector at his or her direction, and acting pursuant to section 53a-22, as amended by this act, or a sworn agent or sworn uniformed division officer of the United States Secret Service, 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.

Sec. 2. Section 53a-22 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2010):

(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, sworn agent or sworn uniformed division officer of the United States Secret Service, Department of Motor Vehicles inspector appointed under section 14-8 and certified pursuant to section 7-294d, or an authorized official of the Department of Correction or the Board of Pardons and Paroles 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, policeman, agent, inspector or official to be invalid.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (a) of this section, a peace officer, sworn agent or sworn uniformed division officer of the United States Secret Service, special policeman appointed under section 29-18b, Department of Motor Vehicles inspector appointed 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 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, sworn agent or sworn uniformed division officer of the United States Secret Service, special policeman appointed under section 29-18b, Department of Motor Vehicles inspector appointed 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 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, sworn agent or sworn uniformed division officer of the United States Secret Service, special policeman appointed under section 29-18b, Department of Motor Vehicles inspector appointed 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 to assist such peace officer, agent, officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector or official 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, agent's, officer's, special policeman's, motor vehicle inspector's or official's direction.

(e) A person who has been directed to assist a peace officer, sworn agent or sworn uniformed division officer of the United States Secret Service, special policeman appointed under section 29-18b, Department of Motor Vehicles inspector appointed 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 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, agent, officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector or official to use deadly physical force, unless he or she knows that the peace officer, agent, officer, special policeman, motor vehicle inspector or official 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, 2010):

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

Sec. 4. Section 54-170 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2010):

The arrest of a person may be lawfully made also by any peace officer, sworn agent or sworn uniformed division officer of the United States Secret Service, or a private person, without a warrant, upon reasonable information that the accused stands charged in the courts of a state with a crime punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, but when so arrested the accused shall be taken before such a judge with all practicable speed and complaint shall be made against him under oath setting forth the ground for the arrest as in section 54-169; and thereafter his answer shall be heard as if he had been arrested on a warrant.

Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2010) Any sworn agent of the United States Secret Service may obtain and serve search warrants and arrest warrants for financial crimes, and make arrests without warrant for a felony committed in their presence, if they have probable cause to believe that the person so arrested has committed, or is committing, such offense. Any such agent executing the powers authorized pursuant to this section, except when using deadly physical force, shall be deemed to be acting in the capacity of a peace officer, as defined in section 53a-3 of the general statutes. For purposes of this section, "financial crimes" includes a violation of sections 53-388a, 53a-122 to 53a-125b, inclusive, 53a-127b, 53a-128, 53a-128b to 53a-128g, inclusive, 53a-129a to 53a-129e, inclusive, 53a-138 to 53a-142, inclusive, 53a-252 to 53a-256, inclusive, and 53a-276 to 53a-279, inclusive, of the general statutes.


This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2010	53a-19(b)
Sec. 2	October 1, 2010	53a-22
Sec. 3	October 1, 2010	53a-23
Sec. 4	October 1, 2010	54-170
Sec. 5	October 1, 2010	New section