BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 545
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 545 (John A. Pérez)
As Introduced February 16, 2011
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Ammiano, Knight, Cedillo, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, |
| |Hagman, Hill, Mitchell, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Skinner | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, |
| | | |Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Expands the categories of relationships that
constitute felony domestic violence resulting in a traumatic
condition to include former fiancés and fiancées, as well as
current and former dating relationships.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides any person who willfully inflicts upon a person who
is his or her spouse, former spouse, cohabitant, former
cohabitant, or the mother or father of his or her child,
corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition, is guilty
of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four
years, or in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a
fine of up to $6,000 or by both that fine and imprisonment.
2)States that holding oneself out to be the husband or wife of
the person with whom one is cohabiting is not necessary to
constitute cohabitation as the term is used in this section.
3)Defines a "traumatic condition" a condition of the body, such
as a wound or external or internal injury, whether of a minor
or serious nature, caused by a physical force.
4)Provides that for the purpose of this section, a person shall
be considered the father or mother of another person's child
AB 545
Page 2
if the alleged male parent is presumed the natural father
under specified provisions of the California Family Code.
5)Provides that any person convicted of violating this section
for acts occurring within seven years of a specified related
previous conviction shall be punished by imprisonment in a
county jail for not more than one year, or by imprisonment in
the state prison for two, four, or five years, or by both
imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000.
6)States that any person convicted of a violation of this
section for acts occurring within seven years of a previous
conviction of this section shall be punished by imprisonment
in the state prison for two, three, or four years, or in a
county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of up to
$10,000, or by both that imprisonment and fine.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Unknown, moderate annual General Fund cost for increased state
prison commitments. In 2009 and 2010, a combined 3,604
persons were committed to state prison under the section
amended by this bill. If the definitional expansion in this
bill results in a 1% increase in state commitments, assuming a
mid-range term and full sentence credits, annual costs could
exceed $1.5 million.
The same penalty, however, can be achieved by charging under
Penal Code Section 245 (assault with a deadly weapon or force
likely to cause bodily injury), which would significantly
mitigate, if not eliminate, the cost of new commitments.
2)In addition, however, this section provides for longer state
prison sentences for repeat offenses of this section, which
would further increase annual costs in the out-years. These
costs would likely be in the low hundreds of thousands of
dollars, assuming one or two persons were committed as repeat
offenders per year.
3)Unknown nonreimbursable local probation costs for program and
AB 545
Page 3
treatment, offset to a degree by offender reimbursements.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "AB 1360 seeks to eliminate
an inconsistency in domestic violence laws by amending Penal
Code Section 273.5 to expand the scope of felony domestic
violence victims to include relationships found in other
domestic violence laws.
"Specifically, this bill adds to the list of persons who can be
charged with felony domestic violence a defendant who is a
fiancé or fiancée, or a person with whom he or she currently
has, or previously had, a dating or engagement relationship.
"The prevalence of domestic violence has been an increasingly
important focus of the Legislature and law enforcement as
California has witnessed rates of domestic violence increase.
In order to adequately respond to cases of domestic violence,
state laws must be consistent with respect to who qualifies for
this crime.
"The exclusion of these relationships makes felony domestic
violence statute inconsistent with the other domestic violence
laws with respect to who may qualify for that crime. Under
current law, the list of individuals covered by California's
misdemeanor domestic violence law (Penal Code Section 243(e
)(l)) is significantly broader that the individuals covered by
our felony domestic violence law (Penal Code Section 273.5).
"Because of this loophole, a defendant who commits a felony
battery on his or her fiancé or fiancée, or a person with whom
the defendant currently has, or has previously had, a dating or
engagement relationship is not subject to the same punishments
and treatment requirements that other domestic abusers are
subject to upon conviction. For example, if probation is
granted, the conditions of probation may include: (1) payments
to a battered woman's shelter, up to a maximum of five thousand
dollars ($5,000), pursuant to Penal Code Section 1203.097 and/or
(2) that the defendant reimburse the victim for reasonable costs
of counseling and other reasonable expenses that the court finds
are the direct result of the defendant's offense; enhanced
penalties for multiple convicts within a 7 year period; and the
requirement that an individual participate in an one-year
batterers treatment program.
AB 545
Page 4
"State law requires that domestic violence laws track annual
deaths when the deceased was a current or former spouse, current
or former fiancé or fiancée, or a current or former dating
partner (Penal Code Section 11163.6). This discrepancy in the
felony domestic violence statute impacts the reporting domestic
violence cases. By not including the same relationships in
Penal Code Section 273.5 that are used in annual reporting, the
state relies on inaccurate domestic violence statistics.
"The inclusion of fiancés or fiancées, and current or former
dating and engagement partners in Penal Code Section 273.5 will
make the felony statute consistent with all other domestic
violence laws. It will enable all offenders to be charged with
the appropriate crimes and sentenced to the appropriate
punishments. And, it will allow for more accurate statistical
reporting of domestic violence occurrences."
Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this
bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0000900