BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1617| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1617 Author: Gatto (D) Amended: 6/11/14 in Assembly Vote: 27 - Urgency SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-0, 8/14/14 AYES: De León, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 8/4/14 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : State claims SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill appropriates $745,043 from specified funds to the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board (Board) for the payment of 136 state claims. This bill also appropriates $1,450,200 from the General Fund to the Board for the payment of three erroneous conviction claims. ANALYSIS : The State Board of Control was established in 1945. It was revised and renamed the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board (AB 2491, Jackson, Chapter 1016, Statutes of 2000). Government Code 13928 requires the Board to ensure that all claims that have been approved by the Board, and for which no legally available appropriation exists, are submitted for legislative approval at least twice during each calendar year. In general, the Board will approve claims in November and February. Those claims are reported to the chairs CONTINUED AB 1617 Page 2 of the Appropriations Committees who introduce bills appropriating General Funds and special funds to pay the claims. These bills may appropriate funds in amounts to the penny for tens to hundreds of claims. Government Code 906 provides for the payment of interest on claims approved by the Board for which an appropriation has been made beginning 30 days after the effective date of the law by which the appropriation is enacted. The re-issuance of stale-dated warrants is the most prevalent claim approved by the Board. For stale-dated warrants, the Controller must confirm that (1) the check was not cashed and has not been issued, and (2) more than three years have elapsed since the check was issued and the monies have reverted to the General Fund or to the relevant special fund. For these warrants an appropriation is needed to reissue the payment. This category also may include state treasury bonds that have not been redeemed within ten years of their maturity date (there are no such claims in this bill), but the majority of warrants are payroll or tax refund checks. Existing law, Penal Code Section 4900 et seq., authorizes a person convicted and imprisoned for a felony to submit a claim to the Board for pecuniary injury sustained as a result of erroneous conviction and imprisonment. Pursuant to SB 618 (Leno, Chapter 800, Statutes of 2013), if a person has secured a declaration of factual innocence from the court after having his/her conviction set aside, the finding is grounds for payment of a claim against the state and upon application by the petitioner, the Board shall, without a hearing, recommend to the Legislature an appropriation to cover the claim. Likewise, if the court finds the petitioner has proven his/her innocence by a preponderance of the evidence, or the court grants a writ of habeas corpus concerning a person who is unlawfully imprisoned, or when the court vacates a judgment for a person on the basis of new evidence concerning a person who is no longer unlawfully imprisoned, and the court finds the evidence points unerringly to innocence, the Board shall, upon application by the claimant, without a hearing, recommend to the Legislature an appropriation to cover the petitioner's claim. If these provisions do not apply, the claimant is required to introduce evidence in support of his/her claim at a hearing before the Board, and the Attorney General may introduce evidence in opposition. The claimant must prove, by a CONTINUED AB 1617 Page 3 preponderance of the evidence, that the crime was either not committed at all, or, if committed, was not committed by the claimant; that the claimant did not contribute to the arrest or conviction for the crime; and that the claimant sustained pecuniary injury though the erroneous conviction and imprisonment. If a claimant meets the burden of proof, the Board shall recommend to the Legislature that an appropriation of $100 per day of incarceration served in a state prison subsequent to the claimant's conviction. This bill appropriates $745,043 from specified funds to the Board for the payment of 136 state claims. This bill also appropriates $1,450,200 from the General Fund to the Board for the payment of three erroneous conviction claims. Comments Out of a total of 136 claims, 134 of them are for stale-dated warrants, with individual claims ranging from $60 to $43,476. The two remaining claims are $234 for a dental coverage overcharge, and $172 for overpaid mobile home registration fees. Erroneous Conviction Claims . 1.Jose Luis Diaz, binding finding of factual innocence, $305,300. Convicted of rape and related charges in 1984, Diaz served 10 years in state prison. In 2012, the Santa Clara D.A. filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus based on new evidence that pointed unerringly to the claimant's innocence. On March 4, 2014, the court granted the writ and ruled that a Board hearing to determine these facts was not required pursuant to Penal Code Section 851.86. 2.Johnny Williams, binding finding of factual innocence, $461,600. Convicted of lewd and lascivious conduct against a child, Williams served almost 13 years in state prison. In 2012, the California DNA Project and the Northern California Innocence Project filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus asking that the conviction be reversed based on DNA evidence. (Sperm samples from the victim's t-shirt conclusively excluded CONTINUED AB 1617 Page 4 Williams as the source.) On March 8, 2013, the Alameda County D.A. conceded Williams' factual innocence and the Alameda County Superior Court reversed the conviction and ordered Williams released from custody and all parole conditions. A Board hearing to determine these facts was not required as the court findings are binding pursuant to Penal Code Section 851.86. 3.Francisco Carillo, binding factual findings and credibility determinations by the court, $683,300. Convicted of murder and six counts of attempted murder related to a 1991 gang-related drive-by shooting, Carillo served almost 19 years in prison. In 2010, Carillo filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus with the L.A. Superior Court on the basis that five of the six eyewitnesses had recanted. The judge found that the five witnesses who recanted were credible, and that the remaining witness who identified Carillo as the shooter was not credible. The court also determined that Carillo's testimony that he was home with his father the night of the shooting was credible. The D.A. conceded Carillo met his burden of proof and on March 16, 2011, Carillo was released. A Board hearing to determine these facts was not required as the court findings are binding pursuant to Penal Code Section 490(b) 86. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Stale-dated warrants : General Fund appropriations in the amount of $450,950 to pay 121 claims, and appropriations according to a specified schedule from various funds in the amount of the amount of $294,033 to pay15 claims. All but two of these claims are for reissuance of stale-dated warrants (expired checks). The two remaining claims are $234 for a dental coverage overcharge, and $172 for overpaid mobile home registration fees. The individual stale-dated warrant claim amounts range from $60 to $47,142. Erroneous convictions : General Fund appropriations in the amount of $1,450,200 to pay the claims of Francisco Carillo CONTINUED AB 1617 Page 5 ($683,000), Jose Luis Diaz ($305,300), and Johnny Williams ($461,600). ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 8/4/14 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, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, 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, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Gorell, Patterson, Ridley-Thomas, Vacancy JA:e 8/18/14 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED **** END **** CONTINUED