HB2297

THE CONTEXT: Fraudulent schemes and artifices, a class 2 felony, involves a person who, pursuant to a scheme or artifice to defraud, knowingly obtains any benefit by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises or material omissions. In order to prove the offense, the prosecution need not show reliance on the part of any person ( A.

WHAT THE BILL DID: The final vetoed version would stipulate that, in a prosecution for fraudulent schemes and artifices: a) The state is not required to establish that all of the acts constituting the offense occurred within Arizona or a single political subdivision of Arizona; and b) It is not a defense that not all of the acts constituting the offense occurred within Arizona or a single political subdivision of Arizona and make technical and conforming changes.

WHY IT MATTERED: The practical reason for this bill was to create an operative state process for fraudulent schemes instead of leaving implementation undefined. It would stipulate that, in a prosecution for fraudulent schemes and artifices: a) The state is not required to establish that all of the acts constituting the offense occurred within Arizona or a single political subdivision of Arizona; and b) It is not a defense that not all of the acts constituting the offense occurred within Arizona or a single political subdivision of Arizona, and would also make technical and conforming changes, rather than leave the current rule unchanged.