BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1272| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 **** END ****