BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                                                                SB 1281
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        SENATE THIRD READING
        SB 1281 (Blakeslee)
        As Amended  April 24, 2012
        Majority vote 

         SENATE VOTE  :37-0  
         
         PUBLIC SAFETY       6-0                                          
         
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        |Ayes:|Ammiano, Knight, Cedillo, |     |                          |
        |     |Hagman, Mitchell, Skinner |     |                          |
        |     |                          |     |                          |
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         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
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          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
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        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
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