BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1517| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1517 Author: Skinner (D), et al. Amended: 8/18/14 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/17/14 AYES: Hancock, De León, Liu, Mitchell, Steinberg NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson, Knight SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14 AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 5/28/14 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : DNA evidence SOURCE : Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley California Coalition Against Sexual Assault Natasha's Justice Project DIGEST : This bill sets timelines for law enforcement agencies and crime labs to perform and process deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing of rape kit evidence. ANALYSIS : Existing law: 1.Establishes the Sexual Assault Victims' DNA Bill of Rights CONTINUED AB 1517 Page 2 which provides victims of sexual assault with specified rights. 2.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 in order to assure the longest possible statute of limitations. 3.States if the law enforcement agency elects not to analyze DNA evidence within the established time limits, a victim of a sexual assault offense as specified, where the identity of the perpetrator is in issue, shall be informed, either orally or in writing, of that fact by the law enforcement agency. 4.Requires, if the law enforcement agency intends to destroy or dispose of rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence from an unsolved sexual assault case prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations, a victim of sexual assault, as specified, be given written notification by the law enforcement agency of that intention. 5.Provides that written notification shall be made at least 60 days prior to the destruction or disposal of the rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence from an unsolved sexual assault case where the election not to analyze the DNA or the destruction or disposal occurs prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations. 6.States 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: the crime is one that requires the defendant to register as a sex offender; and the offense was committed prior to January 1, 2001, and biological evidence collected in connection with the offense is analyzed for DNA type no later than January 1, 2004, or the offense was committed on or after January 1, 2001, and biological evidence collected in connection with the offense is analyzed for DNA type no later than two years from the date of the offense. 7.States, notwithstanding any other limitation of time described, prosecution for a specified felony sex offense CONTINUED AB 1517 Page 3 shall be commenced within 10 years after the commission of the offense. This bill: 1.Provides that a law enforcement agency assigned to investigate a sexual assault offense, as specified, should do one of the following for any sexual assault forensic evidence received by the law enforcement agency on or after January 1, 2016: A. Submit sexual assault forensic evidence to the crime lab within 20 days after it is booked into evidence; or B. Ensure that a rapid turnaround DNA program, as defined, 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. 1.States 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: A. Process sexual assault forensic evidence, create DNA profiles when able, and upload qualifying DNA profiles into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) as soon as practically possible, but no later than 120 days after initially receiving this evidence; or B. 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. 1.Clarifies that the provisions do not require a lab to test all items of forensic evidence obtained in a sexual assault forensic evidence examination. A lab is considered to be in compliance with the guidelines of this bill when CONTINUED AB 1517 Page 4 representative samples of the evidence are processed by the lab in an effort to detect the foreign DNA of the perpetrator. 2.Provides that these provisions do not require a DNA profile to be uploaded into CODIS if the DNA profile does not meet federal guidelines regarding the uploading of DNA profiles into CODIS. 3.Provides that for specified sex offenses, if the law enforcement agency does not analyze DNA evidence within six months of the time limits established under existing law, the law enforcement agency shall inform the victim, either orally or in writing, of that fact. 4.Deletes the requirement under existing law that the identity of the perpetrator must be in issue, for cases involving a specified sex offense, in order to require a law enforcement agency to inform the victim that the agency has not analyzed the DNA evidence. 5.Provides that a "rapid turnaround DNA program" is 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 pursuant to a written agreement between the law enforcement agency, the crime lab, and the medical facility where the sexual assault team is based. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, 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 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 CONTINUED AB 1517 Page 5 the potential cost increase, General Fund (GF) 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 this bill. The Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles County accounts for 30% of cases statewide, with DOJ processing another 25%, the remaining counties would account for the remaining 45% 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). Potential ongoing state-reimbursable costs in excess of $50,000 to $100,000 (GF) 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 (existing 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 (GF) 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 CONTINUED AB 1517 Page 6 SUPPORT : (Verified 8/15/14) Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley (co-source) California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (co-source) Natasha's Justice Project (co-source) Alameda County Board of Supervisors Alameda County Medical Center - Highland Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault California Communities United Institute California District Attorneys Association California Legislative Women's Caucus California Partnership to End Domestic Violence Center Against Sexual Assault of Southwest Riverside County Community Action Partnership of Madera County Community Service Programs Community Violence Solutions Contra Costa County District Attorney Mark Peterson Crime Victims Action Alliance East Los Angeles Women's Center Empower Yolo Erotic Service Providers Union Glenn County District Attorney Robert Maloney Human Rights Watch Kene Me-Wu-American Indian DV/Sexual Assault Program Kings Community Action Organization - Rape Crisis Program Marin County Supervisor Katie Rice Monterey County Rape Crisis Center Napa Emergency Women's Services National Association of Social Workers North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center Peace Over Violence Planned Parenthood Project Sanctuary Project Sister Family Services Rape Crisis Intervention and Prevention Rape Trauma Services RISE Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce E. Dudley Tri-Valley Haven Verity (Sonoma County's Rape Crisis and Trauma Center) Wild Iris Family Counseling and Crisis Center Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig YWCA of Greater Los Angeles CONTINUED AB 1517 Page 7 OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/15/14) Department of Finance Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : This bill's sponsor, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley, states in part: Untested rape kits mean lost opportunities to develop DNA profiles, search for matches, link cold cases, prosecute offenders, and bring resolution to rape victims and prevent sexual assault crimes by serial sex offenders. The only way we are able to utilize the 'floating' statute of limitations beyond the 10 year statute, is if there is a preliminary examination of the rape kit within two years of the crime. And, even that time frame is often unmet. ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance writes: The author's office notes that this bill is intended to prevent future backlogs of untested DNA evidence gathered from sexual assaults (rape kits) statewide from occurring, and that this bill may result in increased arrest rates for sexually violent crimes. However, it is unclear if this bill would achieve its intended purpose because current law already requires DNA evidence gathered from sexual assaults to be processed in a timely manner. To the extent there are insufficient resources in the DNA Identification Fund to support the increased workload, this bill may result in General Fund costs that are inconsistent with the Administration's proposed budget. The 2014-15 Governor's Budget estimates that the DNA Identification Fund will have a 2014-15 ending fund balance of $2.4 million. Based on the DOJ's cost estimate, the current ending fund balance is insufficient to support the provisions of this bill. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 5/28/14 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, CONTINUED AB 1517 Page 8 Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy JG:ek 8/17/14 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED