BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1281 Page A SENATE THIRD READING SB 1281 (Blakeslee) As Amended April 24, 2012 Majority vote SENATE VOTE :37-0 PUBLIC SAFETY 6-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Ammiano, Knight, Cedillo, | | | | |Hagman, Mitchell, Skinner | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Requires that where a psychiatrist or psychologist evaluates a defendant for purposes of a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity (NGI), the evaluation report shall include the following: a defendant's substance abuse history, his or her substance use history on the day of the commission of the offense, a review of the police report of the offense, and any other credible and relevant material reasonably necessary to describe the facts of the offense. EXISTING LAW : 1)States "It is fundamental Ýjustice] that a person cannot be convicted for acts performed while insane. This Ýis part of the] . . . fundamental principle that wrongful intent is an essential element of crime?". 2)Provides "In any criminal Ýor juvenile delinquency] proceeding . . . Ýthe] defense Ýof not guilty by reason of insanity] shall be found . . . only when the accused person proves by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she was incapable of knowing or understanding the nature and quality of his or her act and of distinguishing right from wrong at the time of the commission of the offense."<1> 3)Provides that Penal Code Section 25 must be read in the alternative to be constitutional. That is, a defendant was insane if he or she was either a) incapable of knowing or understanding ------------------------------ <1> This test of insanity - typically called the" M'Naghten Standard" - was developed in England in 1843. SB 1281 Page B the nature and quality of the act, or b) incapable of distinguishing right from wrong at the time of the offense. 4)Provides the following concerning voluntary intoxication: a) Voluntary intoxication is not a defense to a crime; but b) Voluntary intoxication is admissible on whether a defendant formed the criminal element of specific intent; and, c) In a murder prosecution, voluntary intoxication is admissible on the issue of whether the defendant premeditated, deliberated or harbored express malice. 5)Provides that a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity shall not be found "solely on the basis of a personality or adjustment disorder, a seizure disorder, or an addiction to, or abuse of, intoxicating substances." FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel. COMMENTS : According to the author, "The patient population in state hospitals had dramatically changed over the past two decades. In the mid-1990's, 80 percent of the patients were civil commitments, and only 20 percent of patients had committed a crime. Today, the numbers have switched with 90 percent of patients having committed a crime. The result has been a stark increase in violence within the state hospital system. The situation was sadly epitomized with the assault and death of Donna Gross, a psychiatric technician at Napa State Hospital who was murdered by Jess Willard Massey who has been committed on the basis of not guilty by reason of insanity. "Assaults on staff are increasingly common. Attacks on staff in the second quarter of 2010 doubled to about 200 compared with the same period of 2009, and patient assaults against one another increased almost six-fold to 692. In February 2012, there were five assaults on staff just at Atascadero State Hospital. Our state hospitals were designed to be centers for rehabilitation and the treatment of mental health disorder. The rise assaults has violently disrupted the therapy environment and hindered the delivery of care that patients need and deserve. "SB 1281 seeks to improve the safety of our state hospitals for both SB 1281 Page C staff and fellow patients by preventing malingering individuals from transferring to a mental health facility in the first place. The State of California and UC Davis partnered on a study of NGRI Ýnot guilty by reason of insanity] patients committed to Napa State Hospital. The study results highlight a disturbing trend in the evaluations conducted on behalf of the court and used to inform juries regarding the sanity of defendants. In almost half of the cases (44%), the court appointed evaluator failed to prepare the report consistent and pursuant state standards. Two-thirds of the time (66%) the evaluator failed to consider drug or alcohol use at the time of the offense. "The study findings indicate that a substantial number of NGRI acquittees may have inappropriately received a NGRI finding based on lack of an adequate evaluation and faulty application of the California insanity statute by court examiners. This implies that the increased violence at our state hospital may be attributed to sane and competent criminally violent individuals, which puts patients seeking mental health treatment and the staff that serve them in harm's way. SB 1281 represents a significant step in protecting patients and staff from violent individuals who should never have been committed to a state hospital in the first place. "At a time in which employee morale is low and fear is high at our state hospitals, SB 1281 represents an opportunity for the Legislature and the Administration to take a significant step in improving the work environment for treatment providers who are currently responsible for managing individuals inappropriately committed. The true cost of these inappropriate commitments is borne by the staff and fellow patients who carry the bruises, broken bones, and scars - sometimes to their grave - from assaults that occur because of these procedural mistakes." Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of this bill. Analysis Prepared by : Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN: 0004045 SB 1281 Page D