BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 327 (Yee) - Human trafficking: recall and resentencing.
Amended: April 2, 2013 Policy Vote: Public Safety 6-1
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 23, 2013 Consultant: Jolie Onodera
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: SB 327 would do the following:
Allows victims of human trafficking to pursue a writ of
habeas corpus on the grounds that substantial expert
testimony relating to human trafficking was not introduced
at the trial, thereby affecting the outcome of the case.
Requires the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH), when reviewing
an inmate's suitability for parole, to give great weight to
any information or evidence that the inmate was a victim of
human trafficking at the time of the offense.
Requires the BPH to include in its reports to the Governor
on commutations and pardons evidence that the inmate was a
victim of human trafficking at the time of the offense.
Fiscal Impact:
Moderate increase in state trial court costs for
evidentiary hearings to the extent the provisions of this
bill result in additional filings. At $4,000 per day in
state trial court-related costs, if 20 inmates received a
two-day evidentiary hearing, the annual costs would be about
$160,000 (General Fund*).
Increased state trial court costs to the extent evidence of
human trafficking results in new trials. Five new trials at
a cost of about $20,000 per week could exceed $300,000
(General Fund*).
Unknown, potential state incarceration savings to the
extent that inmates are released from state prison. For
every inmate released as a result of this measure, annual
savings would be about $10,275 (General Fund) assuming the
inmates would otherwise not have been released, with savings
growing over time based on the years the inmate would have
otherwise served.
Increased workload to the BPH, potentially in excess of
$150,000 (General Fund) to conduct investigations to
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determine if an inmate was the victim of human trafficking
at the time of the offense. Additional costs of $100,000
(General Fund) to the extent the development of regulations
are required.
To the extent additional emphasis on human trafficking
results in earlier parole dates, there would be ongoing
General Fund savings of $10,275 per inmate per year, with
savings growing over time based on the years the inmate
would have otherwise served.
*Trial Court Trust Fund
Background: Habeas corpus is a process guaranteed by both the
federal and state constitutions to obtain prompt judicial relief
from illegal restraint. Existing law sets forth the functions of
the habeas corpus writ in Penal Code § 1473(a): "Every person
unlawfully imprisoned or restrained of his or her liberty, under
any pretense whatever, may prosecute a writ of habeas corpus, to
inquire into the cause of such imprisonment or restraint." A
petition for writ of habeas corpus is important when new
evidence undermines the prosecution's case and indicates the
defendant's innocence.
SB 799 (Karnette) Chapter 858/2001 allowed habeas corpus
petitions for a narrow class of inmates, specifically battered
persons convicted of killing their abusers. This allowance was
made on the basis that existing law at the time of the
conviction did not make it clear that evidence of battered
women's syndrome (BWS, and later revised to "intimate partner
battering" (IPB) pursuant to AB 220, Chapter 215/2005) was
admissible at trial. This bill would allow an inmate to bring a
writ of habeas corpus if he or she was a victim of human
trafficking, the crime of which was created in 2005, at the time
of the crime and competent and substantial evidence of human
trafficking was not presented at the original trial, which could
have affected the trial's outcome.
Under existing law, the BPH is required, when considering an
inmate's suitability for parole, to give "great weight" to any
information or evidence that, at the time of the commission of
the crime, the inmate had experienced IPB but was convicted
prior to this defense being admissible as evidence. This bill
would require the BPH to also give great weight to evidence that
the inmate was a victim of human trafficking at the time of the
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offense.
Current law authorizes the BPH to periodically report to the
Governor the names of inmates who in its judgment ought to have
a commutation of sentence or be pardoned on account of good
conduct, or unusual term of sentence or any other cause,
including evidence of IPB and its effects. This bill would
require the BPH to also include evidence that an inmate was a
victim of human trafficking on such reports to the Governor.
Proposed Law: See above Bill Summary.
Related Legislation: AB 1593 (Ma) Chapter 809/2012 requires BPH,
when reviewing a inmate's suitability for parole, to give great
weight to any information or evidence that an inmate had
experienced IPB at the time of the offense, and provide that the
fact that the inmate brought in the evidence cannot be used to
find that he or she lacks insight to his or her crime.
AB 593 (Ma) Chapter 803/2012 deleted the January 1, 2020, repeal
date on provisions of law that allow a writ of habeas corpus to
be prosecuted on the grounds that testimony relating to IPB
(formerly BWS) and its effects was not presented during the
trial court proceedings, thereby affecting the outcome of the
trial
SB 799 (Karnette) Chapter 858/2001 provided women who were
convicted of homicide prior to the enactment of the Evidence
Code provision providing for the admissibility of evidence
relating to BWS to bring a writ of habeas corpus when there was
a reasonable probability that the result of the case may have
been different had evidence of BWS been admissible in the
original trial.
Staff Comments: As the provisions of this bill will apply
retroactively, there is the potential for additional habeas
corpus petitions from cases prior to 2005 (when the crime of
human trafficking was created) to be filed. State trial court
costs for evidentiary hearings, assuming $4,000 per day in state
trial court-related costs, for 20 inmates receiving a two-day
evidentiary hearing, would result in costs of $160,000 (TCTF).
Additional trial court costs would also be incurred to the
extent evidence of human trafficking results in new trials.
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Annual state incarceration savings could be realized should
inmates be released from state prison due to the provisions of
this bill. The magnitude of the fiscal impact is unknown, as the
potential savings would be determined by the number of petitions
filed, the factors specific to each individual case and the
decisions of individual judges. For every inmate released,
incarceration savings of $10,276 (General Fund) per year would
result. Savings would increase over time as the years the inmate
otherwise would have served compound over time.
The BPH anticipates increased workload and costs, potentially in
excess of $150,000 (General Fund) associated with conducting
investigations to determine if an inmate was the victim of human
trafficking at the time of the offense. Additional costs to
train commissioners, clinicians, and investigators on the
effects of human trafficking and its relationship to criminal
behavior to ensure proper consideration at parole hearings could
also be incurred. To the extent additional emphasis on the
effects human trafficking is considered during parole reviews
results in earlier parole dates, there would be ongoing General
Fund savings in reduced sentences served of an unknown, but
potentially significant amount.