BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2499|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2499
Author: Maienschein (R), et al.
Amended: 8/16/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/28/16
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/1/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Sexual assault evidence kits
SOURCE: Alameda County District Attorney
Natashas Justice Project
DIGEST: This bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ), on
or before July 1, 2018, to establish a process by which victims
of sexual assault may inquire to review the disposition of their
rape kit.
ANALYSIS:
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
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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. (Penal 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.
(Penal 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. (Penal 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. (Penal 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. (Penal 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
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limitations for the underlying sexual assault offense.
(Penal 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.
(Penal 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. (Penal Code § 680, subd.
(c).)
9) States that sexual assault victims have the following
rights, subject to the commitment of sufficient resources to
respond 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. (Penal
Code § 680, subd. (c)(2).)
10)Encourages law enforcement to notify victims of information
in their possession regarding victims' rape kits. (Penal
Code § 680, subd. (c)(2).)
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This bill requires the DOJ, on or before July 1, 2018, and in
consultation with law enforcement agencies and crime victims
groups, to establish a process by which victims of sexual
assault may inquire regarding the location and information of
their sexual assault evidence kits.
Background
The Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Tracking program (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 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 creates a process in which the victim can view the
disposition of their rape kit.
Interaction with AB 1848
This bill does not provide information regarding why a rape kit
has or has not been tested, but AB 1848 (Chiu) requires more
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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) requires law enforcement
agencies to include the reason or reasons why each rape kit
under their control has not been tested.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, the following
fiscal costs should be considered:
Process development: One-time minor costs of less than
$50,000 (General Fund) to the DOJ to develop a process by
which victims may inquire regarding status of their sexual
assault evidence kits.
Process implementation: Unknown; potential future costs in
excess of $100,000 (General Fund) in programming costs to
enable victims to securely access the SAFE-T database, or
alternatively, to support DOJ staffing to accept and process
inquiries from victims and query the SAFE-T database
internally to respond to requests. Potential costs would be
dependent on the process established, which is undetermined at
this time but required to be established by July 1, 2018.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/12/16)
Alameda County District Attorney (co-source)
Natasha's Justice Project (co-source)
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault
California Police Chiefs Association
Californians for Safety and Justice
Crime Victims United of California
Joyful Heart Foundation
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OPPOSITION: (Verified8/12/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/1/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, 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, Mathis,
Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
Prepared by:Molly Lao / PUB. S. /
8/16/16 17:50:31
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