BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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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).)








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          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  








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          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










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          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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