BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2195
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Date of Hearing: May 18, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2195 (Bonilla) - As Amended May 4, 2016
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|Policy |Public Safety |Vote:|7 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill requires District Attorneys to collect data on the
number of persons, by race and gender, charged with and
convicted of felony murder, and report the data annually to the
Department of Justice (DOJ) beginning July 1, 2017. This bill
requires DOJ to incorporate this information, disaggregated by
county, race and gender, on its annual report related to
homicides.
FISCAL EFFECT:
AB 2195
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1)Moderate reimbursable state mandated cost (GF) to counties.
If the largest 20 counties are successful in a mandate claim
for $10,000 to provide the required information, the GF cost
would be $200,000. The reimbursable cost would be greater if
more counties seek reimbursement, or if the costs to the
largest counties is much greater.
2)Moderate one-time costs to DOJ in the $100,000 to $150,000
range (GF) for programming to capture the new data elements
and incorporate the new data in the annual report, and minor
ongoing costs.
COMMENTS:
1)Background. Murder is classified according to degrees, either
first or second degree murder. Any killing in the
perpetration of specified felonies is murder in the first
degree (felony murder). Any death that that occurs as a
direct causal result of the commission or attempted commission
of a felony inherently dangerous to human life, other than a
felony enumerated in Penal Code Section 189, constitutes
second degree felony murder. Murder in the first degree is
either, intentional and premeditated or felony murder, and
murder in the second degree is either unpremeditated or as the
result of the commission of an inherently dangerous felony.
2)Purpose. According to the author, "Over 40,000 people are
serving life sentences in the California state prison system.
It is both alarming and unacceptable that we do not know how
many people are convicted under the felony murder rule, a law
that can impose the harshest and ultimate sentence of death or
life without the possibility of parole, for those whose crime
may not be proportionate to their punishment."
AB 2195
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Felony murder is not a separate charge which can be easily
tracked. A murder defendant is charged with murder in
violation of Penal Code Section 187 and the degree is
determined by the trier of fact at trial, or is admitted by
the defendant when entering a plea.
AB 2195 requires District Attorneys to track this information
prospectively, and requires the DOJ to incorporate the data
into its annual report.
3)Analysis Prepared by:Pedro Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081