Sunday, March 04, 2007

Senate OKs threat penalties

Senate OKs threat penalties - The Clarion-Ledger: "A bill to toughen penalties for people who harm, kidnap or kill witnesses in criminal cases has passed the Senate and is awaiting action in the House.

District attorneys across the state have complained that laws protecting witnesses are not tough enough, and the result has been a consistent absence of key witnesses to testify in court, they say.

'I remember there were a number of high-profile crimes in Hinds County where witnesses recanted or changed their testimonies from what the prosecutor thought they were going to say,' said Sen. Charlie Ross, R-Brandon, author of Senate Bill 2543. 'This raised some questions about whether these witnesses were intimidated in some way.'"

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