BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de León, Chair


          AB 1517 (Skinner) - DNA evidence.
          
          Amended: May 23, 2014           Policy Vote: Public Safety 5-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: Yes
          Hearing Date: August 14, 2014                           
          Consultant: Jolie Onodera       
          
          SUSPENSE FILE. AS AMENDED.


          Bill Summary: AB 1517 would establish timelines within which  
          both law enforcement agencies and crime laboratories should  
          perform DNA testing of rape kit evidence, as specified.
           
          Fiscal Impact (as approved on August 14, 2014): Potentially  
          major ongoing state, local, and special fund costs to meet the  
          timeframes specified to submit and process forensic evidence, as  
          follows: 
              Potentially significant annual costs (Special Fund*) to the  
              Department of Justice (DOJ) of less than $2 million for new  
              staffing to handle the expedited workload and crime lab  
              functions for 46 counties. As the DNA Identification Fund  
              revenue stream is insufficient to support the potential cost  
              increase, General Fund or another fund source would be  
              required to support these costs. In addition, major cost  
              pressure for additional facility space to accommodate the  
              additional staffing.
              Potentially significant non-reimbursable costs to local  
              crime labs of less than $750,000 to meet the testing  
              timeframes in the bill. The LA Crime Lab had indicated costs  
              of about $500,000 to complete all sexual assault evidence in  
              60 days. Extending the time period to 120 days should  
              significantly reduce these costs. Assuming LA County  
              accounts for 30 percent of cases statewide, with DOJ  
              processing another 25 percent, the remaining counties would  
              account for the remaining 45 percent of cases, with total  
              statewide costs estimated at less than $1 million. 
              Potentially significant ongoing non-reimbursable local law  
              enforcement agency costs in the hundreds of thousands of  
              dollars to meet the 20-day turnaround time for submittal of  
              evidence to crime labs (current law does not specify a  
              timeframe).  








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              Potential ongoing state-reimbursable costs in excess of  
              $50,000 to $100,000 (General Fund) to inform all sexual  
              assault victims, regardless if the identity of the  
              perpetrator is at issue, if the law enforcement agency does  
              not analyze DNA evidence within six months prior to the time  
              limits established under existing law (current law only  
              requires notification when the identity of the perpetrator  
              is at issue, and does not require notification if analysis  
              has not been done six months prior to the two-year time  
              limit). Costs would be dependent on the volume of  
              notifications and method of notification (verbal or written)  
              provided.
              Unknown, potential future increase in state incarceration  
              costs (General Fund) to the extent the expedited turnaround  
              time of DNA testing enables additional prosecutions of sex  
              offenses that would have otherwise been time barred under  
              the existing statute of limitations. Additional commitments  
              to prison could also prevent the commission of future crimes  
              by these defendants.
          *DNA Identification Fund

          Background: Existing law establishes the Sexual Assault Victims'  
          DNA Bill of Rights which provides victims of sexual assault with  
          the following:
                 The right to be informed whether or not the DNA profile  
               of the assailant was obtained from the testing of the rape  
               kit evidence or other crime scene evidence from the case;
                 The right to be informed whether or not the DNA profile  
               of the assailant developed from the rape kit evidence or  
               other crime scene evidence has been entered into the DOJ  
               data bank of case evidence;
                 The right to be informed whether or not there is a match  
               between the DNA profile of the assailant developed from the  
               rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence and a DNA  
               profile contained in the DOJ Convicted Offender DNA Data  
               Base, provided that disclosure would not impede or  
               compromise an ongoing investigation.

          Existing law provides that notwithstanding any other limitation  
          of time described, a criminal complaint may be filed within one  
          year of the date on which the identity of the suspect is  
          conclusively established by DNA testing, if both of the  
          following conditions are met: (1) the offense was committed on  
          or after January 1, 2001, and, (2) biological evidence collected  








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          in connection with the offense is analyzed for DNA type no later  
          than two years from the date of the offense. (Penal Code §  
          803(g)(1).)

          Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that a law  
          enforcement agency assigned to investigate specified sexual  
          assault offenses should perform DNA testing of rape kit evidence  
          or other crime scene evidence in a timely manner, but does not  
          specify a set timeframe, in order to assure the longest possible  
          statute of limitations. Existing law provides that if a law  
          enforcement agency elects not to analyze DNA evidence within the  
          two-year timeframe established under existing law, a victim of  
          sexual assault, where the identity of the perpetrator is in  
          issue, shall be informed orally or in writing of that fact by  
          the law enforcement agency. 

          This bill seeks to establish timelines within which both law  
          enforcement agencies and crime labs should adhere in order to  
          ensure the longest possible statute of limitations for sex  
          offenses.

          Proposed Law: This bill would establish timelines within which  
          law enforcement agencies and crime laboratories should perform  
          DNA testing of rape kit evidence. Specifically, this bill:
                 Provides that a law enforcement agency in whose  
               jurisdiction a specified sex offense occurred should do one  
               of the following for any sexual assault forensic evidence  
               received by the law enforcement agency on or after January  
               1, 2016:
                  o         Submit sexual assault forensic evidence to the  
                    crime lab within 10 days after it is booked into  
                    evidence.
                  o         Ensure that a rapid turnaround DNA program is  
                    in place to submit forensic evidence collected from  
                    the victim of a sexual assault directly from the  
                    medical facility where the victim is examined to the  
                    crime lab within five days after the evidence is  
                    obtained from the victim.
                 Provides that the crime lab should do one of the  
               following for any sexual assault forensic evidence received  
               by the crime lab on or after January 1, 2016:
                  o         Process sexual assault forensic evidence,  
                    create DNA profiles when able, and upload qualifying  
                    DNA profiles into CODIS as soon as practically  








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                    possible, but no later than 60 days after initially  
                    receiving the evidence.
                  o         Transmit the sexual assault forensic evidence  
                    to another crime lab as soon as practically possible  
                    but no later than 30 days after initially receiving  
                    the evidence for processing of the evidence for the  
                    presence of DNA. If a DNA profile is created, the  
                    transmitting crime lab should upload the profile into  
                    CODIS as soon as practically possible but no longer  
                    than 30 days after being notified about the presence  
                    of DNA.
                 Provides that a crime lab is not required to test all  
               items of forensic evidence obtained in a sexual assault  
               forensic evidence examination, and that a crime lab is  
               considered in compliance with the bill's guidelines when  
               representative samples of the evidence are processed by the  
               lab in an effort to detect foreign DNA of the perpetrator.
                 Defines "rapid turnaround DNA program" as a program for  
               the training of sexual assault team personnel in the  
               selection of representative samples of forensic evidence  
               from the victim to be the best evidence, based on the  
               medical evaluation and patient history, the collection and  
               preservation of that evidence, and the transfer of the  
               evidence directly from the medical facility to the crime  
               lab, which is adopted via a written agreement between the  
               law enforcement agency, the crime lab, and the medical  
               facility where the sexual assault team is based.
                 Requires a law enforcement agency to inform a victim of  
               sexual assault, either orally or in writing, if the agency  
               does not analyze DNA evidence within six months prior to  
               the time limits established under existing law,  
               irrespective if the identity of the perpetrator is an  
               issue.

          Prior Legislation: AB 322 (Portantino) 2011 would have  
          established a three-year pilot program in 10 counties,  
          commencing July 1, 2012, in which all rape kits collected in  
          those counties after that date will be processed by the DOJ in  
          department laboratories. This bill was vetoed by the Governor  
          with the following message:

          I am returning Assembly Bill 322 without my signature. This  
          measure would establish a new pilot program and require the  
          Department of Justice to test all rape kits collected from 10  








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          specified counties. These counties, however, don't wish to  
          participate in the program.

          I don't see why we would mandate counties to participate in a  
          program they don't want, especially when the state is cutting  
          back on so many programs that are needed and wanted. Local  
          officials are in the best position to determine whether to  
          participate in such a program.
          
          Staff Comments: The DOJ has indicated both one-time and ongoing  
          costs to meet the timeframes outlined in this measure. As DOJ  
          currently does not have the capacity to expand existing  
          laboratories to accommodate the required increase in staff  
          necessitated by the bill's provisions, DOJ has indicated the  
          need for a new facility at a cost of $14.5 million, as well as  
          ongoing costs of about $3 million for new staffing to continue  
          to handle the crime lab functions for 46 counties. Although  
          special funds from the DNA Identification Fund would be an  
          appropriate fund source for these costs, the existing revenue  
          stream is insufficient to support the potential cost increase,  
          and General Fund or another fund source would be required to  
          support these costs. Local crime labs would also incur  
          significant ongoing non-reimbursable local costs to meet the  
          timeframes specified in this bill. 

          Local law enforcement agencies would likely incur ongoing  
          significant costs potentially in the low millions of dollars  
          statewide to meet the 10-day turnaround time for submittal of  
          evidence to crime labs. Additionally, local law enforcement  
          agencies could incur significant ongoing state-reimbursable  
          costs in excess of $50,000 to $100,000 (General Fund) to inform  
          all sexual assault victims, regardless if the identity of the  
          perpetrator is at issue, if the law enforcement agency does not  
          analyze DNA evidence within six months prior to the time limits  
          established under existing law. As current law only requires  
          notification when the identity of the perpetrator is at issue,  
          and does not require notification if analysis has not been done  
          six months prior to the two-year time limit, this provision  
          could be determined to be a higher level of service by the  
          Commission on State Mandates. Costs would be dependent on the  
          volume of notifications and method of notification (verbal or  
          written) provided.

          To the extent the expedited turnaround time for DNA evidence  








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          processing results in additional prosecutions for sex offenses  
          that otherwise would have been time barred by the existing  
          statute of limitations, could result in additional state  
          incarceration costs (General Fund) of an unknown amount. Staff  
          notes any additional commitments to prison could also prevent  
          the commission of future crimes by these defendants, thereby  
          reducing the number of future victims.

          Author amendments:
                 Extend the guidelines from 10 days to 20 days for law  
               enforcement to send a DNA sample to the laboratory. 
                 Extend the guidelines from 60 days to 120 days for the  
               laboratory to process the sample. 
                 Add codified, clarifying intent language.