BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1517|
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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,
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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
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