Killings prompt duty-to-help bill
The state House passes a measure that would make it illegal to do nothing if you know someone is being injured by a crime.
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OLYMPIA - Pushed by parents of three murder victims, lawmakers are pressing to make it a crime for people to do nothing when they know someone's life is in danger. They contend such a law might have prevented the killings of Rachel Rose Burkheimer of Marysville, Michael Schuerhoff of Bothell and Joey Levick of Burien. In each case, people saw the victims, alive but injured, and did nothing that might have saved them. "Every year we don't pass such a law we get another tragic example of why we need the law," said Dan Satterberg of the King County Prosecutor's Office, who helped craft the bill referred to as the "Joey Levick Act." It passed the House of Representatives 97-0 this week and awaits a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

Under the proposed law, misdemeanor criminal charges could be filed against people who do not summon assistance if they know a crime has occurred and the victim is hurt or faces serious harm. It requires only that people attempt to get help, such as by calling 911. They would not be expected to jeopardize their own lives. "That's not too much to ask, given what's at stake," Satterberg said. A conviction would carry a 90-day jail sentence and $1,000 fine.

Pursuit of the law started following the 1994 death of Levick and gained urgency after the killing of Schuerhoff in January 1996. Burkheimer's slaying in 2002 further spotlighted the situation. Levick was badly beaten and left semiconscious in a drainage ditch near Highway 509 in Burien. He lay there for 16 hours, slowly drowning in shallow drainage waters, before dying. Several people knew where he was at the time.

Schuerhoff was pushed off a Bothell railroad trestle, down a hill and into a slough. At least five people knew of his whereabouts and did nothing. Levick's parents, Melva and Joe, and Schuerhoff's mother, Anita, have told and retold their stories. Rep. Al O'Brien, D-Mountlake Terrace, a retired police officer, remembers hearing them as a freshman lawmaker in 1997. "I was in tears," said O'Brien, the prime sponsor of the bill this year. "My son called me up and said, 'It looks like you're tired,' and I said, 'I was crying.' It was horrible to hear about the young man left in the ditch."

Denise Webber of Marysville, Burkheimer's mother, joined the other parents at legislative hearings this year. Webber testified twice, each time clutching a photograph of her 18-year-old daughter who was shot to death in 2002. "I hit some points in her story to remind them," Webber said of lawmakers. She's spoken about how her youngest daughter was beaten and kept captive for hours in an Everett garage before being taken to her death in the hills near Gold Bar. Eight young men were convicted of murder and other crimes in connection with her death. No charges were brought against Trissa Conner, who owned the Everett home and spoke with Burkheimer during her ordeal but did not seek police assistance. "Trissa Conner got off scot-free. People were just appalled by that," Webber said.

Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Janice Ellis said Conner's lack of care was "criminal" and had a "clear impact" on Burkheimer's life. Previous legislation faltered amid concerns that law enforcement might apply it too broadly, even questioning inaction by innocent passersby. There also was concern that good Samaritans might face arrest or liability for getting involved. Revisions made this session limit the law to those who witness the crime and know that the victim suffered harm. "What this does is codify what we recognize as appropriate and desirable behavior," Ellis said. "It's hard to tell if people will be inspired to do the right thing because of potential criminal liability."

Vermont, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Massachusetts also have what's referred to as duty-to-rescue laws, according to House staff.

Webber said she's hopeful that attention focused on her daughter's case boosts the effort to make the legislation reality. "I just want it (the bill) passed, and I want more attention brought to it," she said. Should another setback occur, Anita Schuerhoff vowed to return next session. "We will not stop," she said. "There's a big history here. We're not going to give up."