Sec. 1. 17-A MRSA §31, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 324, §14, is repealed.

Sec. 2. 17-A MRSA §103-B is enacted to read:

§103-B.__Involuntary conduct

1.__It is a defense that, when a person causes a result or engages in forbidden conduct, the person's act or omission to act is involuntary.

2.__An omission to act is involuntary if the person fails to perform an act and:

A.__The person is not capable of performing the act;

B.__The person has no legal duty to perform the act; or

C.__The person has no opportunity to perform the act.

3.__Possession of something is involuntary if the person:

A.__Did not knowingly procure or receive the thing possessed; or

B.__Was not aware of the person's control of the possession for a sufficient period to have been able to terminate the person's possession of the thing.

SUMMARY

This bill removes treatment of the issue of "voluntary conduct" from the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 17-A, section 31 in chapter 2 of the Maine Criminal Code to a new section 103-B in chapter 5. New section 103-B expressly treats the issue as a "defense" under section 101, subsection 4 of the Maine Criminal Code, renames the issue "involuntary conduct" and describes what constitutes involuntary rather than voluntary conduct. Although in State v. Case, 672 A.2d 586 (Me. 1996) the Law Court treated section 31 as a "defense," in State v. Therrien, 695 A.2d 119 (Me. 1997), p. 123 n. 7 the Court stated that "Section 31 does not fall within the purview of and must be distinguished from the general rules governing defenses; affirmative defenses and justification set forth in Chapter 5 of 17-A M.R.S.A (1983)." State v. Therrien leaves unclear how the issue of "voluntary conduct" is to be legally treated, in view of the court's assertion that the general rules of chapter 5 are inapplicable. The bill seeks to rectify this ambiguity.