BILL ANALYSIS
AB 316
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 316 (Solorio)
As Amended June 28, 2009
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |79-0 |(June 1, 2009) |SENATE: |35-4 |(September 8, |
| | | | | |2009) |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Extends the statute of limitations for malpractice
actions against an attorney 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, and revises various procedures of
the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board
(VCGCB).
The Senate amendments make technical non-substantive changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that a finding of factual innocence and an order for
the sealing and destruction of records shall not be made
unless the court finds that no reasonable cause exists to
believe that the arrestee committed the offense for which the
arrest was made.
2)States that whenever a person is acquitted of a charge and it
appears to the presiding judge at the trial judge that the
defendant was factually innocent, the judge may order the
records sealed.
3)Provides that no records shall be destroyed if the person or a
co-defendant has filed a civil action against the peace
officers or law enforcement agency that made the arrest, until
the civil action has been resolved.
4)Provides that any claim for pecuniary damage for wrongful
imprisonment shall be presented within six months after a
judgment of acquittal or release from imprisonment, and at
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least four months prior to the next meeting of the
Legislature.
5)Provides the claimant shall introduce evidence in support of
his or her claim at a hearing before the VCGCB, and the
Attorney General may introduce evidence in opposition thereto.
Provides the claimant must prove the fact that the crime with
which he or she was charged was either not committed at all,
or if committed, was not committed by him or her, the fact
that he or she did not, by any act or omission on his or her
part, either intentionally or negligently, contribute to the
bringing about of his or her arrest and conviction, and the
pecuniary injury sustained by him or her through his erroneous
conviction and imprisonment.
6)Provides a procedure for the appropriation for the purpose of
indemnifying the claimant for pecuniary injury at the rate of
$100 per day of incarceration subsequent to the defendant's
conviction.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Amended the time for filing a claim with the VCGCB from six
months to two years.
2)Provided that a finding of factual innocence shall be
admissible as evidence at the VCGCB.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, potential annual General Fund cost of several hundred
thousand dollars, to the extent that lengthening the claim
filing period, accepting a finding of actual 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, have been
approved.
COMMENTS According to the author, "Exonerated persons often
have distinct problems re-entering society, and have difficulty
achieving legal redress due to a variety of substantive and
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technical obstacles in the law. They have been deprived of
their liberty based upon a failure in the criminal justice
system. It should be the policy of the State of California to
redress the injury inflicted upon the innocent as quickly as
possible, to restore them to full participation in the life of
the community, and to provide assistance for the difficult
transition from wrongful imprisonment to restoration of all the
rights and liberties to which they are otherwise entitled."
Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this
bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Kathleen Ragan / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0002633