RIBACK WILSON (25) (Co-sponsors), BRAY, SCHEVE, PRYOR, HOSMER AND McLUCKIE.
Pre-filed December 17, 1999, and 1000 copies ordered printed.
ANNE C. WALKER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal section 565.020, RSMo 1994, relating to murder, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the same subject, with penalty provisions.
Section A. Section 565.020, RSMo 1994, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 565.020, to read as follows:
565.020. 1. A person commits the crime of murder in the first degree if [he] such person knowingly causes the death of another person after deliberation upon the matter.
2. Murder in the first degree is a class A felony, and the punishment shall be either death or imprisonment for life without eligibility for probation or parole, or release except by act of the governor; except that, if a person has not reached [his] such person's sixteenth birthday at the time of the commission of the crime or is mentally retarded as defined in section 630.005, RSMo, the punishment shall be imprisonment for life without eligibility for probation or parole, or release except by act of the governor.
3. Evidence of mental retardation shall be heard and determined by the trial court out of hearing of the jury prior
to the commencement of the trial, for the purpose of determining whether the death penalty may be imposed upon
the defendant. Any evidence submitted during this pretrial phase may be submitted at trial in the presence of the
jury if such evidence is relevant to any other issue.
Missouri House of Representatives