BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1432
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 10, 2012
Counsel: Milena Blake
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
AB 1432 (Mitchell) - As Amended: January 4, 2012
SUMMARY : Requires a parent or guardian to report to law
enforcement the disappearance or death of a child under the age
of 14 within a specified period of time. Specifically, this
bill :
1)States that any parent or guardian having the care, custody,
and control of a child under 14 years of age who knowingly
fails to notify law enforcement within 24 hours of the death
of the child if the child died under circumstances that would
lead a reasonable person to believe that the death occurred as
a result of a crime, or the disappearance of the child if the
circumstances of the child's disappearance would lead a
reasonable person to believe the child was in danger of
physical harm, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by
imprisonment in county jail for up to one year, a fine not to
exceed $2,000, or both that fine and imprisonment.
2)States that any parent or guardian having the care, custody,
and control of a child under 14 years of age who knowingly
fails to notify law enforcement within 24 hours of the
disappearance of the shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,
punishable by imprisonment in county jail for up to six
months, a fine not to exceed $1,000, or both that fine and
imprisonment.
3)States that nothing shall prevent an individual from being
prosecuted under another section.
4)States that this law shall be known as "Caylee's Law."
EXISTING LAW :
1)States that the desertion of a child in any place with the
intent to abandon the child is prohibited and is punishable by
imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000, or both
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fine and imprisonment. (Penal Code Section 271.)
2)States that any person who, under circumstances or conditions
likely to produce great bodily harm or death, willfully causes
the or permits any child to suffer, or inflict thereupon
unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering, or have the
care or custody of any child, willfully causes or permits the
person or health of that child to be injured, or willfully
causes or permits that child to be placed in a situation where
his or her person or health is endangered, shall be punished
by imprisonment in jail not exceeding one year, or in the
state prison for two, four or six years. ÝPenal Code Section
273a(a).]
3)States that any person who, under circumstances or conditions
other than those likely to produce great bodily harm or death,
willfully causes the or permits any child to suffer, or
inflict thereupon unjustifiable physical pain or mental
suffering, or have the care or custody of any child, willfully
causes or permits the person or health of that child to be
injured, or willfully causes or permits that child to be
placed in a situation where his or her person or health is
endangered, is guilty of a misdemeanor. ÝPenal Code Section
273a(b).]
4)States that any person having the care or custody of a child
who is under eight years or age, who assaults the child by
means of force that a reasonable person would be likely to
produce great bodily injury, resulting in the child's death,
shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for 25
years to life. ÝPenal Code Section 273ab(a).]
5)States that every person who, having knowledge of an
accidental death, actively conceals or attempts to conceal
that death, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail for up to one year, a fine not
less than $1,000 or more than $10,000, or by both fine and
imprisonment. "Actively conceal and accidental death"
includes:
a) Performing an overt act that conceals the body or
directly impeded the ability of authorities or family
members to discover the body;
b) Directly destroying the suppressing evidence of the
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actual physical body of the deceased, including but not
limited to, bodily fluids or tissues; or,
c) Destroying or suppressing the actual physical
instrumentality of death. (Penal Code Section 152.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "AB 1432
originally made it a felony violation to not report the
disappearance of a child, aged 14 years or younger, to law
enforcement authorities with 24 hours if the parent or
guardian has any reason to believe the child may be in danger.
Further, it made it a felony violation to fail to report to
law enforcement the death of a child within 24 hours.
"Amendments taken in this committee allow for tiered misdemeanor
violations. If the child is feared to be in danger of
physical harm, the adult shall be found guilty of a
misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in county jail for up
to one year, a maximum fine of $2,000 or both. If the child
has disappeared under circumstances other than the fear of
physical harm, the adult shall be found guilty of a
misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in county jail for up
to six months, a maximum fine of $1,000 or both.
"Law enforcement has known for years that the first 48 hours of
a person's disappearance are critical to the chances of
finding that child alive and successfully prosecuting any
related criminal behavior. Recent developments make it clear
that we don't have the luxury of leaving the protection of
children to others, or ignoring well-founded suspicions."
2)Background : According to information provided by the author,
"AB 1432 seeks to rectify a gap in current law that was made
apparent with the disappearance of 2 year old Caylee Anthony.
Caylee's mother failed to report that the child was missing
for 31days; thus valuable time was wasted and the chances of
finding the little girl alive and unharmed dropped
dramatically. While Caylee's mother was not found guilty of
Caylee's murder, citizens were outraged that her mother failed
to report her child's disappearance and possible death, and
that such a heinous act could not be charged as a crime. AB
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1432 will ensure that parents that neglectfully fail to report
the disappearance of their child are charged with a
misdemeanor."
3)Casey Anthony Acquittal : On July 15, 2008, two-year-old
Caylee Anthony was reported missing by her grandmother, who
had not seen Caylee in over a month. Caylee's mother, Casey
Anthony, was suspected in the disappearance, largely because
of the varying and conflicting stories she told police about
the whereabouts of Caylee and the reported smell of a
decomposing body in the trunk of her car. In October, Casey
Anthony was charged with the first-degree murder of her
daughter, along with accompanying crimes. Caylee Anthony's
body was discovered in December 2011 in the woods near the
Anthony home.
After a six week trial, a jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of
all counts, except for four misdemeanor counts of providing
false information to a law enforcement officer. Anthony was
sentenced to one year; but with time already served, she was
released 10 days later. The public response to the verdict
was overwhelming. In the weeks following Anthony's release, a
number of online petitions circulated calling for Caylee's
Law. (Create Caylee's Law Online Petition,
http://www.change.org/petitions/create-caylees-law.) Although
there were several petitions and several versions of the law,
generally the petition called for criminal liability for a
parent who failed to report the death or disappearance of a
child within a specified period of time. For example,
proposed Florida legislation would make it a felony if a
parent failed to report a child under 12 missing after 48
hours. ÝFlorida House Bill No. 37 (2011-12 Session).]
These proposed new laws have faced criticism. Some commentators
have expressed concern for the enforceability of the deadlines
set by Caylee's Law. For example, in the case of a missing
child, it is unclear where the deadline should begin. When
the child disappears? When the child is actually noticed
missing? (Balko, Why 'Caylee's Law' is a Bad Idea, Huffington
Post, 7/11/11.) At hearings related to the Florida version of
Caylee's Law, a representative from the Manatee County
Sherriff's office expressed concern that such specific time
frames could confuse parents as to whether they are being
required to wait a certain time to report a child missing.
(Hightower, 'Caylee's Law' leads new bills, Pensacola News
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Journal, 12/31/11.)
4)Penal Code Section 152 : An individual subject to prosecution
under this bill, specifically the portions related to
reporting the death, may also be subject to sanctions under
existing Penal Code Section 152. That section provides that
any individual who, having knowledge of an accidental death,
actively conceals or attempts to conceal that death, is guilty
of a misdemeanor and subject to either imprisonment in county
jail for up to one year, a fine between $1,000 and $10,000, or
both imprisonment and a fine. If the Anthony case had
occurred in California, it is very likely that Casey Anthony
would have face prosecution under Penal Code Section 152.
5)Related Legislation : AB 1226 (Cook), requires a parent,
guardian, or caregiver report the death of a child under the
age of 18 to law enforcement within two days of the death.
Additionally, AB 1226 requires a parent, guardian, or
caregiver having control over a child under 12 years of age to
report the child's disappearance within 48 hours. Violation
of either of these provisions is a felony. AB 1226 is pending
hearing by the Senate Public Safety Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Crime Victims United of California
Krout and Schnieder, Inc. Investigators
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Opposition
California Public Defenders Association
Analysis Prepared by : Milena Blake / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744