BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 184 (Gatto) - Statute of limitations.
Amended: May 24, 2013 Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 30, 2013
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
Bill Summary: AB 184 would extend the statute of limitations for
fleeing the scene of an accident that caused death or permanent,
serious injury, to one year after the person is initially
identified by law enforcement as a suspect in the commission of
the offense, or within the existing statute of limitations (in
general, one year for a misdemeanor or three years for a felony
from the time of the offense), whichever is later.
Fiscal Impact (as proposed to be amended):
Unknown; potential increase in state prison commitments and
costs potentially in excess of several hundreds of thousands
of dollars (General Fund). CDCR data indicates, on average,
65 new commitments to state prison each year over the past
three years (2010-2012) under Vehicle Code (VC) §
20001(b)(2). A five percent increase in convictions would
result in annual state incarceration costs of $180,000
(General Fund), potentially compounding to $360,000 for
overlapping sentences based on serving a mid-term sentence
of two years and full sentence credits.
Potential moderate increase in state trial court workload
to the extent the provisions of this bill result in
additional prosecutions that otherwise would not have
occurred under the existing statute of limitations. Three
additional trials per year (based on the five percent
increase in convictions noted above), would result in
$60,000 (General Fund*) in additional court-related costs.
*Trial Court Trust Fund
Background: Existing law prohibits fleeing the scene of an
accident. Under existing law, the driver of a vehicle involved
in an accident resulting in injury to a person, other than
himself or herself, or in the death of a person is required to
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immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident, as
specified. If a person flees the scene of an accident that
results in death or permanent, serious injury, the person is
guilty of an alternate felony/misdemeanor, punishable by two,
three, or four years in state prison, in county jail for 90 days
to one year, by a fine of $1,000 to $10,000, or by both
imprisonment and the fine (VC § 20001(b)(2)).
The statute of limitations requires commencement of a
prosecution within a certain period of time after the commission
of an offense. In this case, the statute of limitations would be
three years after the commission of the offense (felony), unless
it was charged initially as a misdemeanor offense in which case
the statute of limitations would be one year. This bill provides
that in addition to the existing statute of limitations, when a
person flees the scene of an accident resulting in death or
serious injury, the statute of limitations to file charges is
extended to one year after a person is initially identified by
law enforcement as a suspect in the commission of the offense,
or the existing statute of limitations, whichever is later.
Proposed Law: This bill would provide that notwithstanding any
other limitation of time described, if a person flees the scene
of an accident that caused death or permanent, serious injury,
as defined, a criminal complaint may be filed within the
applicable time period described in existing law or one year
after the person is initially identified by law enforcement as a
suspect in the commission of the offense, whichever is later.
Prior Legislation: SB 387 (La Malfa) 2011 would have enacted the
"Joshua Lacy Law," which would have extended the statute of
limitations on the prosecution of the offense of felony hit and
run from within three years to within six years. This measure
was held in the Senate Committee on Public Safety due to its
Receivership/Overcrowding Crisis Aggravation (ROCA) policy.
AB 2484 (Davis) 2012 would have specified that a criminal
complaint for vehicular manslaughter, when a person has fled the
scene of the accident, may be filed within one year after the
person is initially identified by law enforcement as a suspect
in that offense, or within the existing statute of limitations
(in general, one year for a misdemeanor or three years for a
felony from the time of the offense), whichever is later. This
measure was not heard in the Senate Committee on Public Safety
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due to its ROCA policy.
Staff Comments: By extending the statute of limitations on the
prosecution of the offense of fleeing the scene of an accident
that caused death or permanent, serious injury, the provisions
of this bill could result in additional prosecutions, court
trials, and convictions with sentences to county jail and state
prison.
Based on CDCR data for the past three years (2010-2012), the
average number of commitments to state prison under VC §
20001(b)(2) for convictions for felony hit and run is 65
commitments per year. Assuming a five to 10 percent increase in
prison commitments due to the extended statute of limitations
could increase annual state prison costs in the range of
$180,000 to $360,000 per year, compounding to $360,000 to
$720,000 based on overlapping sentences and a mid-term sentence
of two years. To the extent the number of cases impacted by the
extended statute of limitations is greater or less, the costs
would be affected accordingly.
California's prison system continues to operate under federal
oversight as it addresses the issues of prison overcrowding and
constitutionally adequate health care in its 33 facilities. On
January 7, 2013, the state requested the court vacate or modify
its order requiring the state to reduce the inmate population.
The three-judge panel did not issue judgment on whether to
vacate the population limit but issued an order extending the
deadline for meeting the population limit from June to December
2013. On June 20, 2013, the three-judge panel ordered the State
to immediately take all steps necessary to implement the
measures in the Amended Plan, as specified, notwithstanding any
state or local laws or regulations to the contrary, and, in any
event, to reduce the prison population to 137.5 percent of
design capacity by December 31, 2013, through the specific
measures contained in that plan, through the release of
prisoners from the Low-Risk List, or through the substitution of
prisoners due to other measures approved by the court.
While this bill independently may not impact the prison
population significantly, considered collectively with all
pending legislative proposals potentially exacerbating prison
overcrowding, the effect of any future increases to the prison
population creates significant General Fund cost pressure to the
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extent additional prison population growth potentially requires
the state to utilize additional contract beds, out-of-state
facilities, or capital outlay in order to comply with the
court-ordered population limit.
To the extent the provisions of this bill result in additional
prosecutions and court trials, there would be increased workload
on the courts. Based on a daily court rate of $4,000 (8 hours of
court time) and a one week trial, an additional three to six
court trials per year (associated with the five to 10 percent
increase in state prison commitments noted above) would cost in
the range of $60,000 to $120,000 per year.
Proposed author amendments would limit the statute of
limitations to no later than six years after the commission of
the offense.