Senate Judiciary panel approves tougher penalties for bribery in specified circumstances

The Senate Committee on Judiciary on Tuesday advanced SB 283, a bill that would increase the felony grading for bribery in specified aggravating circumstances.

The measure, passed with amendments by the committee, would elevate bribery to a class A felony when it involves an elected or appointed public official and either a single payment of at least $50,000 or an aggregate of $50,000 over a three-year period, or when there are three or more bribery acts in a three-year window.

Supporters including Daniel Hugo of the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney, City and County of Honolulu, told the committee federal prosecutions often carry stiffer penalties and are easier to prove under federal rules, but said state prosecutions remain an important tool against public corruption. “These crimes are more likely to be charged in federal court,” Hugo said. He outlined the three aggravating circumstances the bill would treat as warranting a class A grading: when the person is an elected or appointed official; when a bribe exceeds the monetary threshold; and when there are three or more bribes in a three-year period.

Opponents included Sunny Gannon, deputy public defender, testifying on behalf of a colleague, who argued that raising the grading from class B to class A would not necessarily increase deterrence or produce more appropriate punishments. “We do not believe that changes it from a B felony to an A felony will provide any further…sufficient deterrent or punish offenders appropriately further,” Gannon said.

Committee members questioned prosecutorial intent and the mechanics of prosecution. Hugo said the change was intended in part to give state prosecutors a stronger option in cases that federal authorities decline or do not pursue. He also said the $20,000 figure in the original draft was modeled on the theft-1 threshold used elsewhere in statute; the chair proposed and the committee adopted an amendment raising the monetary threshold to $50,000.

The chair noted during the decision portion that the amendment would require both that the offender be a public official and that one of the other aggravating conditions be met before an A felony would apply. The committee removed a “notwithstanding” clause as a technical edit and accepted the chair’s amended language.

On the vote, the chair called for passage with amendments; the chair and vice chair voted aye, Senator Chang voted aye, and two members were excused. The measure passed out of committee.

The bill now proceeds to the next stage of the legislative process with the committee’s amendments.