BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 16
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 16 (John A. Pérez)
As Introduced December 3, 2012
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Melendez, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Jones-Sawyer, Mitchell, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Quirk, Skinner, Waldron | |Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| | | |Hall, Ammiano, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, Wagner, Weber |
| | | | |
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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
if the alleged male parent is presumed the natural father
under specified provisions of the California Family Code.
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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, likely minor increased General Fund (GF) costs for
initial state prison commitments.
As the underlying felony domestic abuse statute this bill amends
is excluded from the felonies eligible for local incarceration
under 2011 correctional realignment, this bill could result in
unknown, moderate annual GF costs for increased state prison
commitments. In 2011 and 2012, a combined 3,574 persons were
committed to state prison under the section amended by this
bill. If the definitional expansion in this bill results in a
10% increase in state commitments, assuming a mid-range term,
full sentence credits, and the average per capita prison cost,
annual costs could exceed $10 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 under
the new section.
2)Unknown, potentially significant increased GF costs for longer
prison terms for recidivists.
The section amended by this bill provides for longer state
prison sentences (two, four, or five years) for repeat
offenses of this section and other specified sections, than
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under Penal Code Section 245 (generally two, three, or four
years), which could further increase annual costs in the
out-years. These costs would be in the range of $3 million
for every 100 offenders subsequently committed under this
section who serve six months longer than they would under
Penal Code Section 245.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "AB 16 eliminates an
inconsistency in domestic violence laws by amending Penal Code
Section 273.5 to expand the scope of felony domestic violence
victims to conform to all other domestic violence laws. Under
current law, the list of individuals that qualify to be charged
with misdemeanor domestic violence is significantly broader that
the individuals that qualify to be charged with felony domestic
violence. 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.
"Because of this loophole, a person who commits a felony
domestic violence 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 charged and sentenced
appropriately. 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;
reimbursements to 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.
"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.
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"There is no justifiable reason to exclude these offenders from
the felony domestic violence law when they are included in the
misdemeanor domestic violence law. 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 analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0000755