BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
1280 (Villines)
Hearing Date: 08/12/2010 Amended: 07/15/2010
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Public Safety
7-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 1280 would provide that where a person with
care and custody of a child assaults the child through force
likely to produce great bodily injury and the child becomes
comatose due to brain injury or suffers permanent paralysis, as
defined, that crime shall be punishable by imprisonment in state
prison for life with the possibility of parole. This bill is
contingent on the enactment of AB 1844 (Fletcher).
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12
2012-13 Fund
New felony Unknown; potentially substantial
incarceration costs General
beginning in 2020.
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.
This bill would create a felony, punishable by imprisonment for
life with the possibility of parole, which is committed when any
person who, having the care and custody of a child who is under
eight years of age, inflicts great bodily injury which causes
the victim to become comatose due to brain injury or to suffer
paralysis of a permanent nature.
Under existing law, the penalty for the crime of felony child
abuse is two, four, or six years in prison. (Pen. Code 273a,
sub (a).) The penalty is the same even when the crime results in
permanent injury or disability to a child, with the possibility
of an additional enhancement for great bodily injury. In
contrast, the penalty for the crime of felony child abuse, under
the same circumstances, but which results in the death of the
victim, is 25 years to life in prison.
This bill would create a new crime of felony child abuse,
specific to any person, having the care or custody of a child
who is under eight years of age, who assaults the child by means
of force that to a reasonable person would be likely to produce
great bodily injury, resulting in the child becoming comatose
due to brain injury or suffering paralysis of a permanent
nature. That crime would be punishable by life in prison with
the possibility of parole. This bill would increase the sentence
of felony child abuse, in the specified circumstances from what
would likely be a 6-10 year sentence, to one of life with the
possibility of parole and incur substantial additional
incarceration costs.
Because current statute does not distinguish felony child abuse
by this specific level of permanent outcome to the child, it is
unknown how many individuals commit acts of child abuse that
produce outcomes which would qualify them for prosecution under
the provisions of this bill.