BILL ANALYSIS
AB 316
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 316 (Solorio) - As Introduced: February 18, 2009
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill makes a series of changes related to wrongful
convictions. Specifically, this bill:
1)Extends the statute of limitations for malpractice actions
against an attorney from one to two years after the plaintiff
achieves post-conviction exoneration in a case in which the
plaintiff is required to show factual innocence as an element
of his or her malpractice claim.
2)Provides that a finding of factual innocence shall be
admissible as evidence at the Victim Compensation and
Government Claims Board (VCGCB). (Current law makes a finding
of factual innocence inadmissible "as evidence in any
action.")
3)States that if a person is found factually innocent, the judge
shall order case records sealed, including any record of
arrest, and the court shall inform the defendant that he or
she was not convicted of the crime. The court shall also
inform the defendant of the availability of indemnity for
persons erroneously convicted and the time limits for
presenting those claims.
4)Extends the time for filing a claim with the VCGCB from six
months to two years, and deletes the requirement that the
claim be presented at least four months prior to the next
meeting of the Legislature.
AB 316
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5)Changes the VCGCB hearing standard for proving that a claimant
did not contribute to his or her conviction from intentionally
or negligently contributing to the arrest or conviction, to
intentionally contributing to the arrest or conviction. In
addition, the VCGCB may not consider involuntary false
confessions or pleas to determine whether a claimant
intentionally contributed to arrest or conviction.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Unknown, potentially moderate annual GF costs of several
hundred thousand dollars, to the extent that lengthening the
claim filing period, accepting a finding of factual innocence
as evidence, and dropping negligent contributions to arrest or
conviction as a hearing standard result in additional
financial awards to persons determined to have been wrongfully
convicted.
Since 2002, when the current $100 per day indemnification
amount was established, nine cases, averaging $380,000 (no
death row cases to date), have been approved. According to the
VCGCB, to date it does not appear as if the changes proposed
by this bill would have resulted in additional awards.
2)Unknown, likely minor court costs to the extent extending the
statute of limitations on legal malpractice cases from one to
two years results in additional court time, at a cost of about
$4,000 per day.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . As stated in the bill's findings and declarations,
"It is the intent of the Legislature to remedy some of the
harm caused to all factually innocent people who have been
wrongfully convicted and served time in state prison in
California? This act would remove some of the obstacles to
compensation for the factually innocent and would ease their
transition back into society."
This bill is based on recommendations of the Commission on the
Fair Administration of Justice, which was created by SR 44,
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Burton, 2004, to examine the causes of wrongful convictions
and to make recommendations and proposals to further insure
that the administration of criminal justice in California is
just, fair, and accurate. According to the Commission, "It is
an obligation of the State, which bears responsibility for the
wrongful deprivation of an innocent person's liberty, to
provide assistance in the adequate restoration of that
innocent life which was disrupted."
AB 316 implements several of the Commission's more modest
recommendations, facilitating the sealing of records,
extending the statute of limitations and making certain
evidentiary clarifications for purposes of getting
compensation from the Victims Compensation Board.
2)Prior legislation , AB 2937 (Solorio, 2008) was similar to AB
316 and was vetoed. The governor objected to provisions in the
bill that created a new state-mandated local program that
would have resulted in (minor) increased GF costs for
providing case management services for two years to persons
wrongfully incarcerated and, upon request, for any person
wrongfully incarcerated and released since January 1, 2002.
These provisions are not contained in SB 316.
3)The author will propose amendments to clarify the definition
of involuntary confessions and/or pleas, and the standard of
proof for either.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081