BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2499
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Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016
Consultant: Matt Dean
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr., Chair
AB
2499 (Maienschein) - As Amended March 15, 2016
SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Justice (DOJ), on or before
July 1, 2018 and in consultation with law enforcement agencies
and crime victims groups, to update SAFE-T to allow victims to
access the database to review the disposition of their rape kit.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the DNA and Forensic Identification Database and
Data Bank Program to assist federal, state, and local criminal
justice and law enforcement agencies within and outside
California in the expeditious and accurate detection and
prosecution of individuals responsible for sex offenses and
other crimes, the exclusion of suspects who are being
investigated for these crimes, and the identification of
missing and unidentified persons, particularly abducted
children. (Pen. Code, §§ 295, 295.1.)
2)Encourages DNA analysis of rape kits within the statute of
limitations, which states that a criminal complaint must be
filed within one year after the identification of the suspect
by DNA evidence, and that DNA evidence must be analyzed within
two years of the offense for which it was collected. (Pen.
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Code, § 680, subd. (b)(6).)
3)Encourages law enforcement agencies to submit rape kits to
crime labs within 20 days after the kit is booked into
evidence. (Pen. Code, § 680, subd. (b)(7)(A)(i).)
4)Encourages the establishment of rapid turnaround DNA programs,
where the rape kit is sent directly from the facility where it
was collected to the lab for testing within five days. (Pen.
Code, § 680, subds. (b)(7)(A)(ii) and (E).)
5)Encourages crime labs to do one of the following:
a) Process rape kits, create DNA profiles when possible,
and upload qualifying DNA profiles into the combined DNA
Index System (CODIS) within 120 days of receipt of the rape
kit; or
b) Transmit the rape kit to another crime lab within 30
days to create a DNA profile, and then upload the profile
into CODIS within 30 days of being notified about the
presence of DNA. (Pen. Code, § 680, subd. (b)(7)(B).)
6)Requires law enforcement agencies to inform victims of sexual
assault, as specified, to notify the victim if their rape kit
is not tested six months prior to the statute of limitations
for underlying sexual assault offense. (Pen. Code, § 680,
subd. (d).)
7)Requires law enforcement agencies to inform victims of sexual
assault, as specified, to notify the victim if the law
enforcement agency intends to destroy a rape kit in an
unsolved case prior to the expiration of the statute of
limitations for the underlying sexual assault offense. (Pen.
Code, § 680, subd. (e).)
8)Allows law enforcement agencies to inform victims of sexual
assault, as specified, of the status of their rape kit when
the victim requests an update. (Pen. Code, § 680, subd. (c).)
9)States that sexual assault victims have the following rights,
subject to the commitment of sufficient resources to respond
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to requests for information:
a) The right to be informed whether or not a DNA profile of
the assailant was obtained from the testing of their rape
kit or from other evidence from the crime scene,
b) The right to be informed whether or not the DNA profile
of the assailant has been entered into DOJ's Data Bank of
case evidence, and
c) The right to be informed whether or not there was a
match between the DNA profile of the assailant and a DNA
profile contained in CODIS, provided that disclosure would
not impede or compromise an ongoing investigation. (Pen.
Code, § 680, subd. (c)(2).)
10)Encourages law enforcement to notify victims of information
in their possession regarding victims' rape kits. (Pen. Code,
§ 680, subd. (c)(2).)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "The upgrade
required in AB 2499, will give a victim of sexual assault the
ability to track the progress of their DNA kit while it is
being analyzed and processed in the crime lab via a secure,
electronic process. This will provide the victims with peace
of mind by being able to see where their kit is in the process
and ensure that law enforcement is doing their duty to analyze
the DNA kit in a timely manner."
2)SAFE-T and the Disposition of Rape Kits: SAFE-T was created
by DOJ in 2015 in part to help track how many rape kits were
not being tested and why, to help determine the scope of the
problem and to determine if mandatory testing may lead to the
apprehension of more repeat offenders or the exoneration of
more criminal defendants. SAFE-T is accessible only by law
enforcement agencies and DOJ, due to the sensitive
investigatory and privacy concerns of the information
contained in the database. The database includes the
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disposition of rape kits both at the local law enforcement
agency investigating the sexual assault allegation and the
disposition of rape kits that have been sent to a crime
laboratory for testing.
Rape kits can have many dispositions. A law enforcement agency
may not refer a rape kit for testing if they do not believe a
crime has occurred, if the agency has already identified the
suspect, or if the agency believes they do not need further
evidence to prosecute. If the law enforcement agency does
refer a rape kit for testing, the investigator may request
that a crime lab analyze a rape kit to try to match the DNA
profile to a suspect in the investigation. The lab can then
upload the profile to CODIS, a network of local, state, and
federal databases that allows law enforcement agencies to test
DNA profiles against one another. With access to SAFE-T,
victims could see if their rape kit has been referred for
testing or if testing has been completed.
This bill would allow victims access to SAFE-T to view the
disposition of their rape kit.
3)Interaction with AB 1848: This bill would not provide
information regarding why a rape kit has or has not been
tested, but AB 1848 (Chiu) would require more information to
be entered into SAFE-T that victims would be able to access
should both AB 1848 and this bill pass. Currently, neither
crime laboratories nor law enforcement agencies are required
to test rape kits, nor are they currently required to include
in SAFE-T the reasons why any particular rape kit has not been
tested. AB 1848 (Chiu), would require law enforcement
agencies to include the reason or reasons why each rape kit
under their control has not been tested.
4)Argument in Support: According to the Alameda County District
Attorney, "Law enforcement agencies are not required to track
or report the number of sexual assault kits (SAKs) that are
collected and how many go unanalyzed. Due to this lack of
requirements, the total number of unanalyzed SAKs statewide is
unknown, which deprives victims of justice and closure while
allowing perpetrators to walk free. In 2014, faced with a
mounting backlog of agencies to submit to government crime
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labs to process SAKs. In 2015, the Department of Justice
created a program of its own that would track SAKs in the
analysis process. This program is called the Sexual Assault
Forensic Evidence Tracking Program, or SAFE-T, but it does not
permit victims to have access to the program to get
information regarding the status of their SAK.
"AB 2499 will give a victim of sexual assault to track the
process of their SAK kit while it is being analyzed and
processed in the crime lab via a secure, electronic process.
This will provide victims with the peace of mind by being able
to see where their SAK is in the process and ensure that law
enforcement is doing their duty to analyze the SAK in a timely
manner."
5)Related Legislation:
a) AB 1848 (Chiu) would require local law enforcement
agencies to periodically update SAFE-T on the disposition
of all rape kits in their custody and give reasons why any
rape kits have gone untested. This bill is pending hearing
in the Assembly Committee on Appropriations.
b) AB 909 (Quirk) would require a law enforcement agency
responsible for taking or processing rape kit evidence to
annually report, by July 1 of each year, to the Department
of Justice information pertaining to the processing of rape
kits, including the number of rape kits the law enforcement
agency collects, the number of those rape kits that are
tested, and the number of those rape kits that are not
tested. For those rape kits that are not tested, the bill
would require the law enforcement agency to also report the
reason the rape kit was not tested. This bill is pending
in the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
6)Prior Legislation:
a) AB 1517 (Skinner), Chapter 874, Statutes of 2014,
encourages law enforcement agencies to submit sexual
assault forensic evidence received by the agency to a crime
lab within 20 days after it is booked into evidence, and
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ensure that a rapid turnaround DNA program is in place to
submit forensic evidence collected from the victim of a
sexual assault to a crime lab within five days after the
evidence is obtained from the victim.
b) AB 558 (Portantino), of the 2009-2010 Legislative
Session, would have required local law enforcement agencies
responsible for taking or collecting rape kit evidence to
annually report to the Department of Justice statistical
information pertaining to the testing and submission for
DNA analysis of rape kits. This bill was vetoed by
Governor Schwarzenegger.
c) AB 898 (Chu), Chapter 537, Statutes of 2003, established
the "Sexual Assault Victims' DNA Bill of Rights."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Natasha's Justice Project (Sponsor)
Office of the District Attorney of Alameda County (Sponsor)
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault
California Police Chiefs Association
Californians for Safety and Justice
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared
by: Matt Dean / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
AB 2499
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