BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1351 (Eggman) - Deferred entry of judgment: pretrial
diversion
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Version: June 1, 2015 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 4 - 2 |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 1351 would convert the existing system of deferred
entry of judgment (DEJ) for qualified controlled substance
offenses to a pretrial diversion program, thereby eliminating
the need for a defendant to plead guilty to charges in order to
be admitted into an education and treatment program, as
specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
Potential increase in state trial court costs (General Fund*)
to the extent additional and/or more lengthy trials result
than otherwise would have occurred under the existing system
of DEJ. The removal of the requirement to plead guilty in
order to qualify for a treatment program could potentially
result in additional defendants who enter a not guilty plea
but are unsuccessful in a diversion program, who subsequently
require a more lengthy trial than otherwise would have been
AB 1351 (Eggman) Page 1 of
?
required under the DEJ process after a guilty plea was
entered.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicated an unknown, but
potentially significant impact (General Fund) should its
Criminal Law Division experience an increase in workload due
to an increase in litigation for defendants able to have
qualifying drug offenses be diverted, repeatedly, which would
require status appearances for each new case.
*Trial Court Trust Fund
Background: Under existing law, a defendant charged with specified
controlled substance offenses may be eligible to participate in
a DEJ program if the defendant meets specified criteria,
including but not limited to that he or she has no prior
convictions for any offense involving a controlled substance and
no prior felony convictions within five years of the currently
charged offense. To participate, a defendant must enter a guilty
plea, and entry of judgment on the defendant's plea is deferred
pending successful completion of the program. If DEJ is
successfully completed, the arrest shall be deemed to never have
occurred. Existing law states that a record pertaining to an
arrest resulting in successful completion of a DEJ program shall
not, without the defendant's consent, be used in any way that
could result in the denial of any employment, benefit, license,
or certificate. (Penal Code §§ 1000, 1000.4.)
Under existing law, a superior court is authorized but not
required to administer a pre-plea drug diversion program if the
court, the county district attorney, and the public defender
agree. (PC § 1000.5.) In contrast to DEJ, pretrial diversion
suspends the criminal proceedings without the requirement for a
defendant to enter a plea. If a defendant is unsuccessful in a
pretrial diversion program, criminal proceedings resume but the
defendant may still proceed to trial or enter a plea. If
diversion is successfully completed, akin to DEJ, the criminal
charges are dismissed and the charge is deemed to never have
occurred.
With regard to issues related to immigration, diversion of an
offense would arguably be preferable to DEJ to potentially avoid
AB 1351 (Eggman) Page 2 of
?
adverse immigration consequences. A conviction for possession of
controlled substances, even if dismissed, could potentially
prompt deportation proceedings or prevent an individual from
becoming a U.S. citizen. This bill seeks to reduce the potential
for such adverse immigration consequences.
Proposed Law:
This bill would convert the existing system of deferred entry of
judgment (DEJ) for qualified controlled substance possession or
personal use offenses to a pretrial diversion program, as
follows:
To be eligible for diversion, the defendant must not have a
prior conviction for a controlled substance offense other than
the offenses that may be diverted; the offense charged must
not have involved violence or threatened violence; there must
be no evidence in the current incident that the defendant
committed a drug offense other than an offense that may be
diverted; and the defendant must not have any conviction for a
serious or violent felony, as defined, within five years of
the current charges.
Provides that a defendant's participation in pretrial
diversion shall not constitute a conviction or an admission of
guilt in any action or proceeding.
Revises the minimum time allowed prior to dismissal of the
case from 18 months to six months, and the maximum time the
proceedings in the case can be suspended from three years to
one year, except the court can extend the length of the
program for good cause.
Provides that if the prosecuting attorney, the court, or the
probation department believes that the defendant is performing
unsatisfactorily in the program, or that he or she has been
convicted of an offense that indicates the defendant is prone
to violence, or the defendant is convicted of a felony, the
prosecuting attorney, the court, or the probation department
may move for termination of diversion.
Provides that if the court finds that the defendant is not
performing satisfactorily in the assigned program, or the
court finds that the defendant has been convicted of a
specified type of crime, the court shall reinstate the
criminal charge or charges and schedule the matter for further
proceedings.
AB 1351 (Eggman) Page 3 of
?
States if the defendant has completed pretrial diversion, at
the end of that period, the criminal charge or charges shall
be dismissed. Upon successful completion of a pretrial
diversion program, provides that the arrest upon which the
defendant was diverted shall be deemed to have never occurred.
Retains provisions in current DEJ statutes that are consistent
with pretrial diversion.
Related
Legislation: AB 1352 (Eggman) 2015 would require a court to
allow a defendant to withdraw his or her plea of guilty or nolo
contendere and thereafter dismiss the case upon a finding that
the case was dismissed after the defendant completed DEJ and
that the plea may result in the denial of, or loss of any
employment, benefit, license, or certificate. This bill is
scheduled to be heard today by this Committee.
Prior Legislation: SB 1369 (Kopp) Chapter 1132/1996 converted
the pretrial diversion program in place prior to 1997 to a DEJ
program.
-- END --