KITCHEN WANTS TOUGHER PENALTIES FOR WITNESS INTIMIDATION

          PHILADELPHIA, March 2 – State Sen. Shirley M. Kitchen has attracted bipartisan support for legislation that would increase penalties for intimidating crime witnesses or victims.

          “The time has come for us to take a stand against criminals who have created a climate of fear in our neighborhoods,” said Kitchen (D-Philadelphia). “We need to send a message that witness intimidation is unacceptable.”

          Senate Bill 1126 would increase the penalty from a third- to second-degree felony when a criminal uses force or bribery or threatens force to intimidate a witness. Repeat offenders would also face a second-degree felony charge. The penalty for all other cases would be upgraded from a second- to first-degree misdemeanor.

          “With ‘Three Strikes’ legislation on the books, repeat offenders know they face long sentences if they are convicted a third time,” said Kitchen. “Some of them figure that it’s better to put the squeeze on a witness, rather than stand trial.”

          The Pennsylvania legislature first defined the offense of witness intimidation in Act 187 of 1980. In 2001, the General Assembly increased the penalties for witness intimidation when the underlying crime is a first- or second-degree felony.

          Under the current statute, witness intimidation is a first-degree felony, with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, if the case involved is a first-degree felony or first- or second-degree murder. Witness intimidation is a second-degree felony, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if the case involved is a second-degree felony.

          Witness intimidation has become a pervasive problem in cities like Boston, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Baltimore state’s attorney Patricia Jessamy has estimated that 25 percent of her shooting cases are dismissed when witnesses fail to appear. Prosecutors in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, say that 90 percent of their gang cases involve witness intimidation.

          In 2005, Maryland passed legislation that raised the maximum penalty for witness intimidation. Massachusetts legislators recently endorsed a bill that would provide $750,000 in funding for temporary witness protection efforts and restrict defendants’ access to grand jury testimony.

         U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) is pushing for federal legislation that would provide almost $100 million in funding to help state and local prosecutors protect witnesses until they testify in court. U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Baltimore) has introduced a similar bill.

          Last year’s National Gang Threat Assessment found that gangs were becoming more sophisticated in their use of technology, using the Internet to obtain legal proceedings and identify witnesses. One crime witness in Boston found his grand jury testimony taped to doors in his housing project.