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.