PART A

Sec. A-1. 19-A MRSA §4013, sub-§4, ¶C, as amended by PL 2001, c. 240, §2, is further amended to read:

C. The panel shall collect and compile data related to domestic and sexual abuse, including data relating to deaths resulting from domestic abuse when the victim was pregnant at the time of death.

Sec. A-2. 22 MRSA §3028, sub-§12 is enacted to read:

12.__Report to domestic abuse panel.__If the Chief Medical Examiner determines that a death resulted from criminal conduct and that the victim was pregnant at the time of death, the Chief Medical Examiner shall send a copy of any report prepared under this section to the Domestic Abuse Homicide Review Panel created pursuant to Title 19-A, section 4013.

PART B

Sec. B-1. 17-A MRSA §1251, 2nd ¶, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 536, §1, is amended to read:

In setting the length of imprisonment, if the victim is a child who had not in fact attained the age of 6 years at the time the crime was committed or if the victim is a woman that the convicted person knew or should have known to be in fact pregnant at the time the crime was committed, a court shall assign special weight to this objective fact in determining the basic sentence in the first step of the sentencing process. The court shall assign special weight to any subjective victim impact in determining the final sentence in the 2nd and final step in the sentencing process. Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to restrict a court in setting the length of imprisonment from considering the age of the victim in other circumstances when relevant.

SUMMARY

This bill adds to the duties of the Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse. It requires the commission's Domestic Abuse Homicide Review Panel to collect and review data relating to the death of a pregnant woman when death results from criminal