BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 59
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Date of Hearing: July 3, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 59 (Evans) - As Amended: June 12, 2013
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote:4-0
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
As proposed to be amended , this bill expands the definition of
oral copulation and sexual penetration, as defined, to include
situations in which the perpetrator fraudulently induces the
victim to believe he or she is someone other than the
perpetrator - not just the victim's spouse.
FISCAL EFFECT
Unknown, likely minor if any, annual GF costs for increased
state prison commitments. No one was committed to state prison
in in the past few years under the current statutes, and there
is little reason to anticipate more than an occasional
commitment under the proposed expansion.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. Under current law, rape by fraud or impersonation
can only be committed where the perpetrator holds him or
herself out to be the spouse of the victim. This provision
also applies to specified crimes involving unlawful oral
copulation, sodomy, or sexual penetration by a foreign object.
As a result, there is a discrepancy in current law with
respect to the protection of an unmarried victim who has an
intimate relationship with another person.
The author contends the statute should be updated so as not to
limit the impersonation to spouses.
2)Supporters , including the District Attorneys Association, cite
two recent cases:
SB 59
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A Santa Barbara County case in which a male entered a
residence during the night and had intercourse with the female
occupant. The victim believed the suspect was her cohabitant
boyfriend. Although she was awake during the encounter, the
victim did not immediately realize he was not her boyfriend.
When the victim realized he was not her boyfriend she resisted
and he fled. Although the perpetrator was arrested, the D.A.
could not prosecute for felony rape, since the victim and her
boyfriend lived together but were not married. The D.A.
charged misdemeanor sexual battery and trespass, and the case
was settled when the defendant pled guilty to these lesser
charges.
The Second District Court of Appeals overturned a rape
conviction just weeks ago in the case of People v. Morales
(2013) in which the court urged the Legislature to "correct
the incongruity that exists when a man may commit rape by
having intercourse with a woman when impersonating a husband,
but not when impersonating a boyfriend."
3)There is no known opposition .
4)Author amendments limit this bill to oral copulation and
sexual penetration, as defined, leaving rape and sodomy to SB
65 (Achadjian). The authors introduced similar bills. This
amendment is meant to divide the subject matter.
5)Identical Legislation . SB 65 (Achadjian), pending in Senate
Appropriations, is identical to this bill, prior to the
dividing amendments.
6)Prior Legislation : AB 765 (Achadjian), 2012, expanded the
definition of rape by fraud to include submission of the
victim to sexual intercourse under the belief the perpetrator
was a cohabitant. AB 765, which passed this committee
unanimously, was held in the Senate Public Safety Committee.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081