BILL NUMBER: AB 2427 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 24, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 30, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 19, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 28, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 4, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 12, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chau
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Sections 129 and 2025.280 of, and to add Section
2034.415 to, the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to civil
procedure.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2427, Chau. Civil Procedure: discovery.
Existing law generally prohibits a copy, reproduction, or
facsimile of any kind of a photograph, negative, or print, including
instant photographs and video recordings, of the body, or any portion
of the body, of a deceased person, taken by or for the coroner at
the scene of death or in the course of a post mortem examination or
autopsy, from being made or disseminated. This prohibition does not
apply for use in a criminal action or proceeding in this state that
relates to the death of that person, or, as a court permits, by order
after good cause has been shown and after written notification of
the request for the court order has been served, at least 5 days
before the order is made, upon the district attorney of the county in
which the post mortem examination or autopsy has been made or caused
to be made.
This bill would additionally authorize the making or dissemination
of a copy, reproduction, or facsimile described above for use or
potential use in a civil action or proceeding that relates to the
death of the deceased person (1) if the coroner receives written
authorization from a legal heir or representative of the deceased
person before the action is filed or while the action is pending and
the legal heir or representative provides to the coroner a
declaration under penalty of perjury, a valid form of identification,
and a certified death certificate, or (2) if a subpoena is issued by
a party who is a legal heir or representative of the deceased person
in a pending civil action. By expanding the scope of the crime of
perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law prescribes the procedure for taking oral depositions
inside the state and authorizes any party, after the setting of the
initial trial date for an action, to demand the simultaneous exchange
by all parties of lists containing the names and addresses of any
persons expected to provide expert opinion testimony at the trial.
Existing law also provides that a demand for an exchange of expert
witness lists may include a demand for the production of discoverable
reports and writings made by the listed expert witnesses. Existing
law authorizes a party, to depose any expert disclosed in an expert
witness list.
This bill would require a deponent who is served with a deposition
notice or subpoena calling for electronically stored information to
provide a means of gaining direct access to, or a translation into a
reasonably usable form of, any information that is password protected
or otherwise inaccessible. The bill would also require an expert who
is served with a deposition notice, as specified, to produce any
materials or category of materials, including any electronically
stored information, no later than 3 business days before his or her
deposition.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 129 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended
to read:
129. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, a copy, reproduction, or
facsimile of any kind of a photograph, negative, or print, including
instant photographs and video recordings, of the body, or any portion
of the body, of a deceased person, taken by or for the coroner at
the scene of death or in the course of a post mortem examination or
autopsy, shall not be made or disseminated except as follows:
(1) For use in a criminal action or proceeding in this state that
relates to the death of that person.
(2) As a court of this state permits, by order after good cause
has been shown and after written notification of the request for the
court order has been served, at least five days before the order is
made, upon the district attorney of the county in which the post
mortem examination or autopsy has been made or caused to be made.
(3) For use or potential use in a civil action or proceeding in
this state that relates to the death of that person, if either of the
following applies:
(A) The coroner receives written authorization from a legal heir
or representative of that person before the action is filed or while
the action is pending. To verify the identity of the legal heir or
representative, all of the following shall be provided to the
coroner:
(i) A declaration under penalty of perjury that the individual is
a legal heir or representative of the deceased person.
(ii) A valid form of identification.
(iii) A certified death certificate.
(B) A subpoena is issued by a party who is a legal heir or
representative of the deceased person in a pending civil action.
(b) This section shall not apply to the making or dissemination of
a copy, reproduction, or facsimile for use in the field of forensic
pathology, in medical or scientific education or research, or by a
coroner or any law enforcement agency in the United States for
investigative purposes, including identification and identification
confirmation.
(c) This section shall apply to a copy, reproduction, or
facsimile, and to a photograph, negative, or print, regardless of
when it was made.
(d) A coroner is not personally liable for monetary damages in a
civil action for any act or omission in compliance with this section.
SEC. 2. Section 2025.280 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended
to read:
2025.280. (a) The service of a deposition notice under Section
2025.240 is effective to require any deponent who is a party to the
action or an officer, director, managing agent, or employee of a
party to attend and to testify, as well as to produce any document,
electronically stored information, or tangible thing for inspection
and copying.
(b) The attendance and testimony of any other deponent, as well as
the production by the deponent of any document, electronically
stored information, or tangible thing for inspection and copying,
requires the service on the deponent of a deposition subpoena under
Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 2020.010).
(c) A deponent required by notice or subpoena to produce
electronically stored information shall provide a means of gaining
direct access to, or a translation into a reasonably usable form of,
any electronically stored information that is password protected or
otherwise inaccessible.
SEC. 3. Section 2034.415 is added to the Code of Civil Procedure,
to read:
2034.415. An expert described in subdivision (b) of Section
2034.210 whose deposition is noticed pursuant to Section 2025.220
shall, no later than three business days before his or her
deposition, produce any materials or category of materials, including
any electronically stored information, called for by the deposition
notice.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.