BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1412
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1412 (Nielsen)
As Amended August 19, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :34-0
PUBLIC SAFETY 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Melendez, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Jones-Sawyer, Quirk, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Skinner, Stones, Waldron | |Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| | | |Holden, Jones, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Lowenthal |
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SUMMARY : Applies procedures relative to persons who are
incompetent to stand trial (IST) to persons who may be mentally
incompetent and face revocation of probation, mandatory
supervision, postrelease community supervision (PRCS), or
parole. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that only a court trial is required to determine
competency in any proceeding for a violation of probation,
mandatory supervision, PRCS, or parole.
2)Requires a committed defendant who has not recovered
competency to be returned to the committing court no later
than the shorter of the maximum term of imprisonment provided
by law for a violation of probation or mandatory supervision
or other terms specified in existing law.
3)Requires the court to reinstate mandatory supervision in a
proceeding alleging a violation of that supervision if the
person is not placed under a conservatorship, as described, or
if a conservatorship is terminated.
4)Allows the court, when reinstating mandatory supervision, to
modify the terms and conditions of mandatory supervision to
include appropriate mental health treatment or refer the
matter to a local mental health court, reentry court, or other
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collaborative justice court available for improving the mental
health of the defendant.
5)Requires the court, if the defendant is found mentally
incompetent during a PRCS or parole revocation hearing, to
dismiss the revocation hearing and return the defendant to
supervision. Allows the court, except as specified, if the
revocation hearing is dismissed because of the defendant's
incompetency, to, using the least restrictive option to meet
the defendant's mental health needs, do any of the following:
a) Modify the terms and conditions of supervision to
include appropriate mental health treatment;
b) Refer the matter to any local mental health court,
reentry court, or other collaborative justice court
available for improving the mental health of the defendant;
or,
c) Refer the matter to the public guardian of the
commitment county to initiate conservatorship proceedings,
as specified. Provides that the court is to use this
option only if there are no other reasonable alternatives
to establishing a conservatorship to meet the defendant's
mental health needs.
6)Prohibits, if a conservatorship is established as specified in
the provisions above, the county or the California Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation from compassionately
releasing the defendant or parolee or otherwise causing the
termination of his or her supervision or parole based on the
establishment of the conservatorship.
7)Repeals law held unconstitutional relative to misdemeanor-only
provisions in IST cases.
8)Makes conforming changes to apply procedures relative to
persons who are IST to persons who may be mentally incompetent
and face revocation of probation, mandatory supervision, PRCS,
or parole. Makes technical, non-substantive changes.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee this bill essentially applies the existing statutory
framework for determining and dealing with defendant competency
to the post-realignment world. As such, it is not likely this
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bill will create additional cases and additional workload for
the courts and state and local mental health agencies.
According to representatives of the courts and district
attorneys, in most cases defense attorneys and prosecutors are
operating under the current statutory construct, albeit one that
does not specifically reference mandatory supervision and PRCS.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "For decades, California law
has prohibited a person from being tried or punished while that
person is mentally incompetent. The statutes governing
competency to stand trial apply not only to criminal trials, but
also to probation revocation hearings.
In the wake of realignment, two new classes of supervision
were created - mandatory supervision and post-release
community supervision (PRCS). Mandatory supervision is the
portion of a local prison sentence served in the community
under the supervision of a probation officer. Every day
served on mandatory supervision is deducted from the
original prison term. PRCS effectively replaced parole for
persons who were sentenced to state prison for non-violent,
nonserious, and non-sexual crimes. Rather than being
supervised by a state parole agent upon release from state
prison, they are released on PRCS and supervised by county
probation departments. Unfortunately, while the existing
statutes apply to criminal trials and probation revocation
hearings, they are silent with respect to revocation
hearings for offenders on PRCS and mandatory [supervision].
When these two classes of supervision were created in AB
109 [(Budget Committee), Chapter 15, Statutes of 2011]
there were no corresponding changes made to the laws
governing competence.
As a result, there is no lawful mechanism to assist these
offenders when a judge or attorney suspects the offender
may not be competent to understand the proceedings or
assist their attorney in a PRCS or mandatory supervision
revocation hearing. SB 1412 takes the existing process for
evaluating and treating mentally incompetent defendants in
criminal trials and probation revocation hearings, and
creates a similar process for use in PRCS and mandatory
supervision revocation hearings.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
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Analysis Prepared by : Shaun Naidu / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
FN: 0004987