BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1738
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   March 16, 2010

                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
                                  Mike Feuer, Chair
                      AB 1738 (Tran) - As Amended: March 2, 2010

                    PROPOSED CONSENT (As Proposed to Be Amended)

           SUBJECT  :   DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:  INCIDENT REPORTS

           KEY ISSUE  :  SHOULD AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES OF LIVING DOMESTIC  
          VIOLENCE VICTIMS BE PERMITTED TO OBTAIN COPIES OF THEIR DOMESTIC  
          VIOLENCE INCIDENT REPORTS? 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.

                                      SYNOPSIS
          
          Law enforcement is required to complete a domestic violence  
          incident report for each domestic violence-related call it  
          receives.  These reports may be evidence for a court to consider  
          when determining whether to issue a protective order for the  
          victim.  Currently only the victim, if he or she is alive, may  
          access the incident reports.  If he or she is dead, specified  
          representatives may access the reports.  This non-controversial  
          bill, sponsored by the Conference of California Bar  
          Associations, allows a victim's immediate family member, as  
          specified, or attorney to access the incident reports even if  
          the victim is still alive.  In order to protect the victim's  
          privacy, the bill rightly requires that the representative must  
          have written authorization from the victim.  As proposed to be  
          amended, the bill has no opposition.

          SUMMARY:  Expands who may receive a copy of a domestic violence  
          incident report.  Specifically,  this bill  provides that if the  
          victim is not deceased, the victim's designated personal  
          representative, who is limited to the victim's parent, sibling  
          or adult child or the victim's attorney, all of whom must have  
          written authorization signed by the victim, may receive a copy  
          of the victim's domestic violence incident reports and incident  
          report face sheets.    

           EXISTING LAW  : 

          1)Requires law enforcement to complete a domestic violence  








                                                                  AB 1738
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            incident report for each domestic violence-related call, as  
            specified.  (Penal Code Section 13730.)

          2)Requires law enforcement to provide, without charge, a copy of  
            all domestic violence incident report face sheets and all  
            domestic violence incident reports to the victim or, if the  
            victim is deceased, to his or her representative.  (Family  
            Code Section 6228(a).)  

          3)Defines a deceased victim's representative as any of the  
            following:  (a) the surviving spouse or domestic partner; (b)  
            the surviving child of the deceased victim who is at least 18  
            years of age; (c) a surviving parent; (d) an adult relative;  
            or (e) the public administrator, if one has been appointed.   
            (Family Code Section 6228(g).)

           COMMENTS  :  Law enforcement is required to complete a domestic  
          violence incident report for each domestic violence-related call  
          it receives.  These reports may be evidence for a court to  
          consider when determining whether to issue a protective order  
          for the victim.  Originally, victims of domestic violence had to  
          write and request copies of those reports, which were then  
          provided by mail, a process that often took several weeks.  That  
          delay prejudiced victims in their ability to present a case for  
          a protective order, so, in 1999, the Legislature required that  
          victims be provided with an expedited and affordable method for  
          obtaining these important reports.  (AB 403 (Romero, Chap. 1022,  
          Stats. 1999.)  

          The Legislature expanded this provision to include  
          representatives of deceased domestic violence victims in  
          response to an incident where a victim had committed suicide.   
          In that case, the victim's mother sought emergency temporary  
          custody of the victim's children, and needed to obtain the  
          police reports to support her case - yet she was unable to get  
          these reports until she hired an attorney.  The 2002 legislation  
          extended to specified representatives of a deceased victim of  
          domestic violence the right a living victim has to get face  
          sheets and incident reports from law enforcement upon request.   
          (SB 1265 (Alpert, Chap. 377, Stats. 2002.)

          This bill, sponsored by the Conference of California Bar  
          Associations, allows a victim's personal representative or  
          attorney to access the incident reports even if the victim is  
          still alive.  In order to protect the victim's privacy, the  








                                                                  AB 1738
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          bill, as proposed to be amended, requires that the authorized  
          representative can only be the victim's parent, sibling or adult  
          child or the victim's attorney.  The representative must also  
          have the written authorization from the victim.  

          The following proposed amendments to page 3, lines 27 to 32 of  
          the bill effectuate these changes:

           (2)     For purposes of this section, if the victim is not  
          deceased, a representative of the victim means  either of the  
          following:
           
           (I) A parent, sibling, or adult child of the victim, who shall  
          present to law enforcement his or her identification and a  
          signed authorization by the victim allowing that family member  
          to act on behalf of the victim.


          (II) An attorney for the victim, who shall present to law  
          enforcement his or her identification and written proof that he  
          or she is the attorney for the victim   the   victim's designated  
          personal representative who has written authorization signed by  
          the victim  or a court order making him or her the personal  
          representative, or an attorney hired by the victim to represent  
          him or her in the matter  .  


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support (as proposed to be amended)
           
          Conference of California Bar Associations (sponsor)
          Family Law Section of the State Bar

           Opposition (as proposed to be amended)
           
          None on file
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :  Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334