BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 694
Author: Bloom (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/11/13
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Block, De Le�n, Knight, Liu, Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/16/13 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Admissibility of evidence: victims of human
trafficking
SOURCE : Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office
DIGEST : This bill clarifies that evidence that a victim of
human trafficking has engaged in a commercial sex act cannot be
used to prosecute that victim for the commercial sex act.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Specifies that commercial sex act" means sexual conduct on
account of which anything of value is given or received by any
person.
2.Provides that human trafficking is one of the offenses which
is "criminal profiteering activity" subjecting proceeds from
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the activity to forfeiture proceedings.
3.Provides that any person who deprives or violates the personal
liberty of another with the intent to obtain forced labor or
services, is guilty of human trafficking and shall be punished
by imprisonment in the state prison for 5, 8, or 12 years and
a fine of not more than $500,000.
4.States that any person who deprives or violates the personal
liberty of another with the intent to affect or maintain a
violation of specified sex crimes is guilty of human
trafficking and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state
prison for 8, 14, or 20 years and a fine of not more than
$500,000.
5.States that any person who causes, induces, or persuades, or
attempts to cause, induce, or persuade, a person who is a
minor at the time of commission of the offense to engage in a
commercial sex act, with the intent to affect or maintain a
violation of specified sex crimes is guilty of human
trafficking. A violation of this subdivision is punishable by
imprisonment in the state prison for 5, 8, or 12 years and a
fine of not more than $500,000 or fifteen years to life and a
fine of not more than $500,000 when the offense involves
force, fear, fraud, deceit, coercion, violence, duress,
menace, or threat of unlawful injury to the victim or to
another person.
6.Provides that in determining whether a minor was caused,
induced, or persuaded to engage in a commercial sex act, the
totality of the circumstances, including the age of the
victim, his or her relationship to the trafficker or agents of
the trafficker, and any handicap or disability of the victim,
shall be considered.
7.Prohibits the admissibility of evidence that a victim of human
trafficking has engaged in any commercial sexual act as a
result of being a victim of human trafficking in order to
prove the victim's criminal liability for any conduct related
to that activity.
This bill prohibits the admissibility of evidence that the
victim has engaged in any commercial sexual act as a result of
being a victim of human trafficking in order to prove the
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victim's liability for the commercial sex act.
Background
Human trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation or
sale of people for forced labor. Through violence, threats and
coercion, victims are forced to work in, among other things, the
sex trade, domestic labor, factories, hotels and agriculture.
According to the January 2005 United States Department of
State's Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center report, "Fact
Sheet: Distinctions Between Human Smuggling and Human
Trafficking", there are an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 men,
women and children trafficked across international borders each
year. Of these, approximately 80% are women and girls and up to
50% are minors. A recent report by the Human Rights Center at
the University of California, Berkeley cited 57 cases of forced
labor in California between 1998 and 2003, with over 500
victims. The report, "Freedom Denied", notes most of the
victims in California were from Thailand, Mexico, and Russia and
had been forced to work as prostitutes, domestic slaves, farm
laborers or sweatshop employees. [University of California,
Berkeley Human Rights Center, "Freedom Denied: Forced Labor in
California" (February, 2005).] According to the author: "While
the clandestine nature of human trafficking makes it enormously
difficult to accurately track how many people are affected, the
United States government estimates that about 17,000 to 20,000
women, men and children are trafficked into the United States
each year, meaning there may be as many as 100,000 to 200,000
people in the United States working as modern slaves in homes,
sweatshops, brothels, agricultural fields, construction projects
and restaurants."
In 2012, Californians voted to pass Proposition 35, which
modified many provisions of California's already tough human
trafficking laws. The proposition increased criminal penalties
for human trafficking, including prison sentences up to
15-years-to-life and fines up to $1,500,000. Additionally, the
proposition specified that the fines collected are to be used
for victim services and law enforcement. Proposition 35 requires
persons convicted of trafficking to register as sex offenders.
Proposition 35 prohibits evidence that victims engaged in sexual
conduct from being used against victims in court proceedings.
Additionally, the proposition lowered the evidential
requirements for showing of force in cases of minors.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/12/13)
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the Los Angeles County
District Attorney's Office:
The Californians Against Sexual Exploitation Act, commonly
known as the CASE Act ("Act"), was passed by initiative on
November 6, 2012. Evidence Code section 1161,
subdivision (a), which is in Section 4 of the Act, is
particularly problematic. It states:
Evidence that a victim of human trafficking, as
defined in Section 236.1 of the Penal Code, has
engaged in any commercial sexual act as a result of
being a victim of human trafficking is inadmissible to
prove the victim's criminal liability for any conduct
related to that activity. (� 1161, subd. (a).)
Clearly, in a prosecution of a victim of human trafficking
for an act of prostitution that is related to the
trafficking, section 1161, subdivision (a), makes any
evidence of a commercial sexual act related to that
trafficking inadmissable. However, prosecutions beyond
prostitution may be affected.
The statute states that evidence of commercial sexual
activity is inadmissible to prove "criminal liability for
any conduct related to that activity" (� 1161, subd. (a),
emphasis added), instead of the phrase "criminal liability
for the commercial sex act." Thus, the reach of section
1161, subdivision (a), will turn on what a court believes
is "conduct related to that activity." This language
could be readily interpreted to apply to prosecutions such
as pimping and pandering other prostitutes, or the robbery
or murder of a "john" or a trafficker. If evidence of the
commercial sexual act is found to be inadmissible, these
prosecutions will be compromised.
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/16/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia,
Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey,
Roger Hern�ndez, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue,
Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin,
Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,
V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,
Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,
Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Buchanan, Eggman, Beth Gaines, Grove,
Holden, Melendez, Morrell, Stone, Vacancy
JG:nl 6/12/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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