BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 16 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 16 (John A. Pérez) As Amended June 14, 2013 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(May 30, 2013) |SENATE: |39-0 |(September 9. | | | | | | |2013) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: PUB. S. 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. The Senate amendments specify that "dating relationship" means frequent, intimate associations primarily characterized by the expectation of affectional or sexual involvement independent of financial considerations. 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. AB 16 Page 2 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 Senate Appropriations Committee: 1)Unknown; potential increase in annual state incarceration costs (General Fund) to the extent the expanded scope of felony domestic violence results in increased state prison commitments. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) data indicates 2,265 commitments to state prison in 2012 for felony domestic violence. A 10% increase would result in additional state incarceration costs of $13.5 million per year, increasing to $20.4 million for overlapping sentences based on a middle term sentence, full sentence credits, and the average per capita prison cost of $60,000. To the extent convictions for assault by any means of force likely to cause great bodily injury (Penal Code Section 245) would otherwise have occurred, would significantly mitigate the potential costs of new commitments under this measure. 2)Potentially significant increase in annual state incarceration costs for extended sentences for recidivists (generally longer prison sentences for recidivists under Penal Code Section 273.5 than for felony assault under Penal Code Section 245). Every 100 repeat offenders impacted would result in increased state incarceration costs of $3 million (General Fund) assuming an additional one-year sentence would result in six months served based on full sentence credits and the average AB 16 Page 3 per capita prison cost of $60,000. 3)Non-reimbursable local probation costs for programs and treatment, offset to a degree by fine revenue. 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. "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 AB 16 Page 4 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: 0002129