BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1140
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Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1140 (Bonta) - As Amended May 4, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill revises various rules governing the California Victim
Compensation Program (CalVCP). Some examples include:
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1)Expands the definition of a victim's "authorized
representative" to include any person having written
authorization by the victim or derivative victim, or any
person designated by law such as a legal guardian,
conservator, or social worker; but excluding any medical or
mental health provider, or its agent, who has provided
services to the victim or derivative victim.
2)Provides that an applicant may be found to have been
"uncooperative" for purposes of verifying information
necessary to process a claim under very specific
circumstances.
3)Authorizes denial of a claim, in whole or in part, if the
board finds that denial is appropriate because of the nature
of the applicant's involvement in the events leading to the
crime, or the involvement of the person whose injury or death
gave rise to the claim. This limitation does not apply if the
victim's injury or death occurred as a direct result of the
crimes of rape, spousal rape, domestic violence, or unlawful
sexual intercourse with a minor.
4)Prohibits the denial of an application for a claim arising
from a sexual assault based solely on the failure to file a
police report. And requires the board to adopt guidelines
allowing it to consider and approve applications for
assistance in sexual assault cases by relying upon evidence
other than a police report. Factors evidencing a sexual
assault has occurred may include medical records, mental
health records, and a sexual assault examination.
5)Denies compensation to any person who is required to register
as a sex offender.
6)States that factors to be considered for determining
involvement in the crime include, but are not limited to:
a) The victim or derivative victim initiated the qualifying
crime, or provoked or aggravated the suspect into
initiating the qualifying crime;
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b) The qualifying crime was a reasonably foreseeable
consequence of the conduct of the victim or derivative
victim; and,
c) The victim or derivative victim was committing a crime
that could be charged as a felony and that reasonably lead
to him or her being victimized.
6)States that if the board finds that the victim or derivative
victim was involved in events leading to the crime, specifies
factors that may be used to mitigate or overcome involvement.
7)Allows the board to request verification before it reimburses
for attorney's fees.
8)Removes current provisions which prioritize the applications
of victims who are not felons.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Three areas have fiscal implications:
1) Cooperation with Law Enforcement. The Program currently
denies approximately 400 applications based on domestic
violence and 100 based on sexual assault per year due to
lack of cooperation with law enforcement. If half of these
applicants were made eligible by the changes in denial due
to lack of cooperation with law enforcement, at an average
payment of $2,250 per application, the total payment
increase would be approximately $550,000 per year.
2) Denial Due to Participation in a Crime. Approximately
45 applicants per year are denied due to participation in a
crime. If half of these applicants were made eligible by
the change in denial due to participation at an average
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payment of $2,250 per application, the total payment
increase would be approximately $50,000 per year.
3) Applicants with Felon Status. The Program has denied
reimbursement of expenses to approximately 90 applicants
per year due to their felon status. If half of these
applicants were made eligible by the allowance of payments
to non-violent felons at an average payment of $2,250 per
application, the total payment increase would be
approximately $100,000 per year.
COMMENTS:
1)Background: CalVCP provides compensation for victims of
violent crime. It reimburses eligible victims for many
crime-related expenses, such as medical treatment, mental
health services, funeral expenses, home security, and
relocation services. Funding for the board comes from
restitution fines and penalty assessments paid by criminal
offenders, as well as federal matching funds.
2)Purpose. According to the author, ""To address ongoing issues
with outdated restrictions and the need to modernize the
program to reflect changing technologies and crimes, the
CalVCP conducted a Statute Modernization Project, bringing
various stakeholder groups together to make recommendations on
revising and updating the state compensation program to better
serve victims."
"AB 1140 would implement many of the recommendations made by the
CalVCP Statute Modernization Project to modernize the existing
statutes. For example, current law restricts compensation of
victims of domestic violence if the victim fails to cooperate
with law enforcement or report the assault in a timely
fashion. AB 1140 would update that law to comport with current
understandings of domestic violence and the many reasons a
victim may fail to immediately report or cooperate. Current
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law also restricts compensation to persons on probation or
parole and those who have participated in a crime that
resulted in their injuries. AB 1140 would delete those
restrictions and allow compensation unless the person is on
probation or parole for a violent crime or is a sex offender
and allow compensation to those who participated in a crime
unless the crime was a felony.
"The bill would also make a number of other improvements to
address emerging issues in law."
3)Argument in Opposition: According to the California District
Attorneys Association, "Section 5 of the bill (on p. 19)
amends Government Code section 13957(a)(1) to provide for
reimbursement only for medical or medical-related expenses
incurred by the victim for services that were provided by a
licensed medical provider.
"This is directly contrary to established law. In People v.
Keichler (2005) 129 Cal.App.4th 1039, the 3rd District Court
of Appeal upheld compensation for Laotian Hill Tribe assault
victims who paid for a shaman's spirit healing ceremony,
rather than incur Western medical expenses, after a full trial
hearing including expert testimony on the value of such a
ceremony. ?
"Finally, we ask that language be added to the bill to require
that any compensation received by a supervised felon first be
applied to any victim restitution, fines, and fees that they
owe in the case for which they are being supervised."
Staff notes that Public Safety Committee did not address the
concerns raised by the opposition.
AB 1140
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Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081