SENATE WOMEN'S ISSUES, CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 559

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: MARCH 14, 1996

      The Senate Women's Issues, Children and Family Services favorably reports Senate Bill No. 559 with committee amendments.

      Presently, when prosecutors and victims of domestic violence seek to use the criminal statutes to punish perpetrators, the structure of the assault laws create a problem. There is a gap in procedure and punishment between simple assault and aggravated assault; these offenses are distinguished essentially by the nature of the injury intended. In instances in which the gap between a simple assault and an aggravated assault was too great to tolerate, the Legislature has enacted special categories of victims, and has enhanced simple assault based on the circumstances regardless of the injuries.

      As amended by committee, this bill would expand the categories of persons protected by amending N.J.S.2C:12-1 to provide that a simple assault committed against a person eligible for protection from the assailant by the "Prevention of Domestic Violence Act," shall be upgraded to aggravated assault.

      Under the bill, an aggravated assault committed against this category of persons is a crime of the third degree if the victim suffers bodily injury, or if the victim is known or believed to be pregnant; otherwise it is a crime of the fourth degree.

      The committee amended the bill to further expand the categories of persons protected under the provisions of the bill by providing that a simple assault committed against a person eligible for protection under the provisions of the "Prevention of Domestic Violence Act," be upgraded to aggravated assault, raising the offense to a crime of the third degree.