BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair


          SB 1248 (Alquist) - Civil procedure: contempt.
          
          Amended: May 1, 2012            Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: May 24, 2012      Consultant: Jolie Onodera
          
          SUSPENSE FILE.


          Bill Summary: SB 1248 would require a minor who is an alleged 
          victim of a sex crime to meet with a victim advocate, as 
          defined, where the minor is under 16 years of age and facing 
          contempt of court for refusing to testify, unless the court 
          finds that it is not in the best interest of the victim. This 
          bill would authorize the court to impose sanctions, as 
          specified, on any parent or guardian who the court finds is 
          inappropriately interfering with court processes by encouraging 
          a minor to refuse to testify.

          Fiscal Impact: Potential costs in the range of $100,000 (General 
          Fund) per year to the Judicial Branch for increased evidentiary 
          hearings. This amount could be offset in part by fine revenues 
          from sanctions to the extent they are levied.

          Background: This bill seeks to protect child victims of sex 
          crimes from being coerced into not testifying against their 
          abusers. It is noted that, "While many children, as crime 
          victims, want and need to participate as testifying witnesses, 
          participating in the process causes many of them significant 
          fear and anxiety. Researchers attribute the cause of child 
          witnesses' anxieties to a number of factors, including their 
          fear of not being believed and their fear of answering questions 
          in front of the person who hurt them. Facing the accused is 
          consistently children's top concern. If the abuser is the 
          parent, even the Supreme Court has surmised that the child's 
          feelings of vulnerability, guilt, and unwillingness to come 
          forward would be particularly acute." (Sacrificing the Child to 
          Convict the Defendant: Secondary Traumatization of Child 
          Witnesses by Prosecutors, Their Inherent Conflict of Interest, 
          and the Need for Child Witness Counsel, Tanya Asim Cooper, 
          Spring 2011).
          








          SB 1248 (Alquist)
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          Existing law generally provides victims of sexual assault the 
          right to have victim advocates and a support person of the 
          victim's choosing present at any interview by law enforcement 
          authorities, district attorneys, or defense attorneys. Existing 
          law defines "victim advocate" to mean a sexual assault 
          counselor, as defined in section 1035.2 of the Evidence Code, or 
          a victim advocate working in a center established under Article 
          2 of Chapter 4 of Title 6 of Part 4. The centers 
          cross-referenced in this section are public or private 
          non-profit entities providing assistance to victims and 
          witnesses.
           
          Proposed Law: This bill would require a minor who is a victim of 
          a sex crime to meet with a victim advocate, as defined in Penal 
          Code section 679.04, where the minor is under 16 years of age 
          and facing contempt of court for refusing to testify, unless the 
          court, for good cause, finds that it is not in the best interest 
          of the victim.

          This bill provides that if the court finds that a parent or 
          guardian is inappropriately interfering with court processes by 
          encouraging a minor under 16 years of age to refuse to testify, 
          the parent or guardian may be sanctioned by counseling, a fine, 
          or jail time. The bill specifies that nothing shall preclude 
          prosecution under any other applicable provision of law. 

          Staff Comments: The Judicial Council estimates that for cases in 
          which an evidentiary hearing is necessary to determine whether a 
          parent or guardian inappropriately interfered with a court 
          process be encouraging a minor not to testify would result in 
          increased costs of approximately $2,160 per hearing in order to 
          determine specific findings are required before sanctions can be 
          levied, the hearing is estimated to increase the court's review 
          time by three to four hours.

          It is unknown how many cases the court will find that a parent 
          or guardian is inappropriately interfering with court processes. 
          Based on the number of offenders convicted of sex crimes against 
          children in California of approximately 13,000 in 2001, and 
          adjusting for the reduced trend in child sexual abuse cases 
          based on National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), 
          it is estimated there could be approximately 45 cases (less than 
          one per county) per year statewide that could require an 
          evidentiary hearing. Estimated costs based on the assumptions 








          SB 1248 (Alquist)
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          above would result in court costs of approximately $100,000 
          General Fund per year. To the extent the court levies sanctions 
          in the form a fine, a portion of costs would be offset by the 
          amount collected.