BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1272|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 1272
Author: Grove (R)
Amended: 1/13/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/14/16
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 1/28/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Criminal procedure: trial schedule conflicts
SOURCE: The Arc
United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration
DIGEST: This bill requires the court to make reasonable
efforts to avoid scheduling a case involving a crime committed
against a person with a developmental disability when the
prosecutor has another trial set.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Entitles both the prosecution and a defendant to a right to a
speedy trial. (Cal. Const., Art. I, § 13.)
2)Provides that absent good cause, a defendant is entitled to
have felony charges against him or her dismissed if he or she
is not brought to trial within 60 days after arraignment.
(Penal Code §§1049.5 & 1382 (a)(2).)
3)Allows a trial court to grant continuances only upon a showing
of "good cause." (Penal Code §1050 (e).)
AB 1272
Page 2
4)States that neither the convenience of the parties nor a
stipulation of the parties is in and of itself good cause.
(Penal Code §1050 (e).)
5)Provides that scheduling conflicts of a prosecutor in specific
types of cases does constitute good cause for a continuance.
(Penal Code §1050 (g)(2).)
6)Requires the court to make reasonable efforts to avoid
scheduling a murder, sexual assault, child abuse, or career
criminal prosecution case when the prosecutor has another
trial set. (Penal Code §1048.1.)
7)Provides that "developmental disability" means a disability
that originates before an individual attains 18 years of age;
continues, or can be expected to continue, indefinitely; and
constitutes a substantial disability for that individual. As
defined by the Director of Developmental Services, in
consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
this term shall include intellectual disability, cerebral
palsy, epilepsy, and autism. This term shall also include
disabling conditions found to be closely related to
intellectual disability or to require treatment similar to
that required for individuals with an intellectual disability,
but shall not include other handicapping conditions that are
solely physical in nature. (Welfare and Institutions Code §
4512 (a).)
This bill:
1)Provides that the court shall also make reasonable efforts to
avoid scheduling a trial where an offense is alleged to have
occurred against a person with a developmental disability.
2)Defines developmental disability as the meaning found in
Welfare and Institutions Code Section 4512.
Background
A defendant has a right to a speedy trial guaranteed by the
Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution, and Article
AB 1272
Page 3
I, Section 13, of the California Constitution. To implement an
accused's constitutional right to a speedy trial, the
Legislature has prescribed certain time periods within which an
accused must be brought to trial. (See Penal Code, § 1382.) To
go beyond the time frames good cause must be shown. Good cause
is not defined in statute; rather, what constitutes good cause
depends on the totality of the circumstances in each case.
(People v. Johnson (1980) 26 Cal.3d 557, 570.) Generally,
unavailability of the prosecutor due to calendar conflicts does
not constitute good cause in and of itself. (See e.g., Batey v.
Superior Court (1977) 71 Cal.App.3d 952.) However, the
Legislature has determined that when the prosecutor is
unavailable to try a case involving murder, career criminal
prosecutions, child abuse, domestic violence, certain sex
offenses, and stalking, this constitutes automatic good cause
for a continuance of up to 10 days. (Penal Code, § 1050(g)(2).)
Existing law also directs judges to take reasonable efforts to
avoid double setting a prosecutor for trial where one of the
cases involves a charge of murder, sexual assault, child abuse
or a career criminal prosecution. (Penal Code, § 1048.1.) This
bill adds cases in which it is charged that the victim is a
person with a developmental disability, as defined, to these
provisions. It does not provide that automatic good cause for
continuance of a criminal trial includes cases where a victim is
a person with a developmental disability. The court retains
discretion to manage its trial calendar.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 6/15/16)
The Arc (co-source)
United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration (co-source)
California District Attorneys Association
Disability Rights California
Judicial Council of California
AB 1272
Page 4
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/15/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 1/28/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez,
Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Mathis
Prepared by:Mary Kennedy / PUB. S. /
6/15/16 17:24:49
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