Delaware General Assembly


CHAPTER 324

FORMERLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 732

AS AMENDED BY HOUSE AMENDMENT NO. 1

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 47, TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE, RELATING TO PENALTIES FOR DISTRIBUTING DRUGS TO PERSONS UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE, BY PROVIDING MANDATORY JAIL SENTENCES FOR THOSE DISTRIBUTING DRUGS TO PERSONS UNDER 16 YEARS OF AGE AND 14 YEARS OF AGE.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each House thereof concurring therein):

Section 1. Amend §4761, Chapter 47, Title 16 of the Delaware Code, by adding the following subsections:

"(3) In any prosecution for violation of §4761(1) of this Title, when the person to whom the narcotic drug has been distributed is under the age of 16, there shall be a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of one (1) year, which one year mandatory minimum term shall not be subject to suspension and no person shall further be eligible for probation or parole during said one year mandatory minimum term; when the person to whom the narcotic drug has been distributed is under the age of 14, there shall be a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of two (2) years which two year mandatory minimum term shall not be subject to suspension and no person shall further be eligible for probation or parole during said two year mandatory minimum term.

(4) In any prosecution for violation of §4761(2) of this Title, when the person to whom the non-narcotic drug been distributed is under the age of 16, there shall be a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of six (6) months, which six months mandatory minimum term shall not be subject to suspension and no person shall further be eligible for probation or parole during said six months mandatory minimum term; when the person to whom the narcotic drug has been distributed is under the age of 14, there shall be a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of one (1) year, which one year mandatory minimum term shall not be subject to suspension and no person shall further be eligible for probation or parole during said one year mandatory minimum term."

Section 2. Amend Title 16, §4761 by adding thereto a new subsection (5) to read as follows:

"(5) Mistake as to age. Whenever in this section the criminality of conduct or particular sentence depends on a person's age, it is no defense that the actor did not know the person's age, or reasonably believed the person to be older than age 14, 16, or 18, as the case may be."

Approved July 8, 1980.