(Des Moines)– A bill that was introduced by Representative Zach Dieken of Granville, which would change the penalty for accessory to murder, is looking like it might become law. Dieken says the charge would be upgraded from a serious misdemeanor to a class D felony, which carries a penalty of five years in prison…
“I’ve got to give credit so some constituents who just reached out and were willing to share their concerns with, I don’t want to say that they had gone through a certain life situation where this would be applicable to them, at least I hope not, but yeah, had constituents reach out and say hey, did you realize that accessory to the crime of murder is essentially the same as poaching a deer? And I was kind of flabbergasted by that and didn’t believe them and sure enough, yeah, it’s essentially the same penalty. The crime is obviously not the same by any stretch, but the penalty was essentially the same, and so we sought to change that. Obviously if you’re involved in the process of, or I shouldn’t say the process of, the crime of murdering somebody, then you should be charged appropriately and so it’s just a matter of upping penalties to meet the crime.”
Dieken says the bill enjoyed wide support from other legislators…
“I think it saw pretty steady support through the whole process which I think everybody else was kind of surprised that the penalty for accessory to murder was so low. And so it sailed through subcommittee and then the Public Safety Committee as well and it should be voted on here on the House floor just whenever leadership decides it’s appropriate to bring it up, so it’s on the debate calendar right now.”
There is a companion bill in the Iowa Senate, introduced by Senator Lynn Evans, which is still going through the system. Plus, Dieken says Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has said she supports the bill as well.
Dieken represents all of O’Brien and Osceola counties and parts of Cherokee and Buena Vista counties. Evans is from Aurelia and represents all of Osceola, O’Brien, and Buena Vista counties and parts of Clay and Cherokee counties.
(Courtesy Community First Broadcasting station KIWA in Sheldon)
