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Subcommittee advances bill creating fentanyl-induced homicide offense after technical amendment
Summary
The South Carolina House Criminal Law Subcommittee voted unanimously to give a favorable report to Senate Bill 156, which would create a felony for fentanyl-induced homicide; prosecutors suggested narrower language to aid prosecutions and the committee adopted a housekeeping citation amendment by unanimous consent.
The South Carolina House Criminal Law Subcommittee unanimously gave a favorable report to Senate Bill 156, which would create a new felony offense for fentanyl-induced homicide, after adopting a technical amendment and hearing recommended language changes from the South Carolina Commission on Prosecution Coordination.
The bill, as discussed at the subcommittee meeting, would make it a felony when the unlawful delivery or dispensing of fentanyl or a fentanyl-related substance results in another person’s death. Lisa Catalanado, executive director of the South Carolina Commission on Prosecution Coordination, told the committee she provided redlined edits aimed at making the statute usable for prosecutors while keeping the legislature’s focus limited to fentanyl-related deaths.
Catalanado told the committee her edits to subsection A of the proposed statute would require that the drug unlawfully provided actually contained fentanyl or a fentanyl-related substance and that the person charged knew they were providing a controlled substance, “but it would not be necessary that the person knew that it contained fentanyl.” She said the amended language would require that the toxic effect of the fentanyl either was the sole cause of death or contributed to the person’s death and would cover deaths caused by medical emergencies related to fentanyl exposure, such as asphyxiation, kidney failure or stroke. Catalanado said the edits “would assist prosecutors with making this a usable offense.”
Catalanado also handed the committee an alternate formulation addressing direct and proximate causation drawn from case law; she identified State v. Burton and State v. Dantoneo as sources for that alternate language. She told members she recommended leaving subsections B and C of the statute unchanged and limited her proposed edits to subsection A so the law would remain focused on fentanyl-related deaths.
Representative William Bailey (District 104, Horry County) proposed a housekeeping amendment to the bill’s statutory citation on line 24 to refer specifically to the trafficking and fentanyl portion of the controlled-substances code: adding a parenthetical reference to 44-53-370(E)(9). He moved for unanimous consent to make that change and the committee approved the amendment by unanimous consent.
After the amendment, the subcommittee took a roll-call vote on a favorable report for Senate Bill 156 as amended. Chairman Jeff Johnson (chair, House Criminal Law Subcommittee), Representative Bailey and Representative Robbie Robbins (District 97, Colleton and Dorchester) each recorded “aye,” and Chairman Johnson announced the bill’s favorable report. Johnson said the bill “has passed as amended and it will be on the full committee agenda this afternoon.”
No other members of the public signed up to comment; Catalanado was the only witness who presented edits and explanatory materials to the committee. The committee did not take additional amendments or debate beyond the citation change and the suggested prosecutorial edits that Catalanado presented.
Votes at a glance: Senate Bill 156 — Favorable report as amended (unanimous roll-call: Jeff Johnson — aye; William Bailey — aye; Robbie Robbins — aye). The bill will proceed to the full committee agenda.
