BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 14|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 14
Author: Lara (D), et al.
Amended: 4/14/15
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 6-0, 4/7/15
AYES: Jackson, Vidak, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wieckowski
SUBJECT: Sexual battery: consent defense: minors sexual
conduct
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill prohibits the use of consent as a defense in
any sexual battery civil action involving a minor victim where
the person committing the sexual battery is an adult who is in a
position of authority, as defined. This bill prohibits the use
of any evidence of the minor's sexual conduct with the adult
perpetrator, except in limited circumstances.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Provides that unlawful sexual intercourse is an act of
sexual intercourse accomplished with a person who is not the
spouse of the perpetrator, if the person is a minor under 18
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years of age. Existing law provides that:
Any person who engages in an act of unlawful sexual
intercourse with a minor who is not more than three years
older or three years younger than the perpetrator, is
guilty of a misdemeanor;
Any person who engages in an act of unlawful sexual
intercourse with a minor who is more than three years
younger than the perpetrator is guilty of either a
misdemeanor or a felony, and shall be punished by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or
by imprisonment as specified; and
Any person 21 years of age or older who engages in an
act of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor who is
under 16 years of age is guilty of either a misdemeanor or
a felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment in a
county jail not exceeding one year, or by imprisonment, as
specified, for two, three, or four years.
1) Provides that a person who consents to an act is not wronged
by it.
2) Provides that the rights of personal relations forbid the
seduction of a person under the age of legal consent.
3) Provides that there is no cause of action for "seduction of
a person over age of legal consent."
4) Enumerates specified acts that constitute a sexual battery
and provides that a person who commits a sexual battery upon
another is liable to that person for specified damages.
Existing law also authorizes courts in such actions to award
equitable relief, including, but not limited to, an
injunction, costs, and any other relief the court deems
proper. Existing law also provides that the rights and
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remedies provided in these provisions are in addition to any
other rights and remedies provided by law.
5) Provides that, except as otherwise provided by statute, all
relevant evidence is admissible.
6) Authorizes a court, in its discretion, to exclude evidence
if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the
probability that its admission will (a) necessitate undue
consumption of time or (b) create substantial danger of undue
prejudice, of confusing the issues, or of misleading the
jury.
7) Generally allows the court or jury to consider various types
of evidence, such as prior inconsistent statements, in
determining the credibility of a witness any matter that has
any tendency in reason to prove or disprove the truthfulness
of the witness's testimony at the hearing.
8) Provides that in any civil action alleging conduct which
constitutes sexual harassment, sexual assault, or sexual
battery, if evidence of sexual conduct of the plaintiff is
offered to attack credibility of the plaintiff, as specified,
the following procedures shall be followed:
The defendant must provide a written motion to the
court and the plaintiff's attorney stating that the
defense has an offer of proof of the relevancy of evidence
of the sexual conduct of the plaintiff proposed to be
presented.
The written motion must be accompanied by an affidavit
in which the offer of proof shall be stated.
If the court finds that the offer of proof is
sufficient, the court must order a hearing out of the
presence of the jury, if any, and at the hearing allow the
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questioning of the plaintiff regarding the offer of proof
made by the defendant.
At the conclusion of the hearing, if the court finds
that evidence proposed to be offered by the defendant
regarding the sexual conduct of the plaintiff is relevant,
as specified, and is not inadmissible pursuant to existing
law above (because the probability of undue prejudice
would outweigh the probative value of the evidence), the
court may make an order stating what evidence may be
introduced by the defendant, and the nature of the
questions to be permitted. The defendant may then offer
evidence pursuant to the order of the court.
1) Renders certain types of evidence inadmissible under
specified circumstances. In any civil action alleging conduct
which constitutes sexual harassment, sexual assault, or
sexual battery, existing law generally renders opinion
evidence, reputation evidence, and evidence of specific
instances of plaintiff's sexual conduct, or any of such
evidence, inadmissible by the defendant in order to prove
consent by the plaintiff or the absence of injury to the
plaintiff.
2) Provides that the above general prohibition is not
applicable to evidence of the plaintiff's sexual conduct with
the alleged perpetrator. Existing law also provides that
this exception does not make inadmissible any evidence
offered to attack the credibility of the plaintiff pursuant
to the procedures outlined under specified law.
This bill:
1) Provides that notwithstanding the existing provision that a
person who consents to an act is not wronged by it, consent
shall not be a defense in a sexual battery civil action, as
specified, if the person who commits the sexual battery is an
adult who is in a position of authority over the minor.
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2) Provides that, for these purposes, an adult is in a
"position of authority" if he or she, by reason of that
position, is able to exercise undue influence over a minor.
This bill provides that position of authority for these
purposes to include, but not be limited to, a natural parent,
step-parent, foster parent, relative, partner of any such
parent or relative, caretaker, youth leader, recreational
director, athletic manager, coach, teacher, counselor,
therapist, religious leader, doctor, employee of one of these
aforementioned persons, or coworker.
3) Defines "undue influence" to have the same meaning as
provided under the Welfare and Institutions Code, which
defines the term to mean excessive persuasion that causes
another person to act or refrain from acting by overcoming
that person's free will and results in inequity.
4) Provides that notwithstanding the provision of existing law
that permits the use of evidence of the plaintiff's sexual
conduct with the alleged perpetrator, in any civil action
arising out of sexual battery involving a minor and adult in
position of authority, as specified, evidence of the
plaintiff minor's sexual conduct with the defendant adult
shall not be admissible to prove consent by the plaintiff or
the absence of injury to the plaintiff.
5) Provides that such evidence of the plaintiff's sexual
conduct may only be introduced to attack the credibility of
the plaintiff in accordance with existing law or to prove
something other than consent by the plaintiff, if, upon a
hearing of the court out of the presence of the jury, the
defendant proves that the probative value of that evidence
outweighs the prejudice to the plaintiff consistent with
existing law.
Background
California civil law generally provides that no one can be
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wronged by an act where he or she has consented to that act
causing the injury or loss. (See Civ. Code Sec. 3515; in a
legal sense, the word "consent" means capable, deliberate, and
voluntary assent or agreement to, or concurrence in, some act or
purpose, implying physical and mutual power and free action.
Heine v. Wright (1926) 76 Cal.App. 338, 343.)
As a matter of criminal law, in cases involving allegations of
unlawful sexual intercourse, consent does not operate to
preclude a criminal violation because bright lines are drawn
based on the age of the individuals. Instead the relevant
question is the "age of consent." If a person over the age of
consent has sexual intercourse with a person under the age of
consent, the older person may be prosecuted for statutory rape
regardless of whether the younger person consented to the act.
In a criminal case, the age of consent is 18, pursuant to Penal
Code Section 261.5 (which generally makes it a crime for a
person over 18 to have intercourse with a person under 18.
Depending on the age of the victim and the perpetrator, or their
age difference, the penalty varies).
Last November, various news outlets reported that in a civil
case filed by a 14-year old student against the Los Angeles
County Unified School District (LAUSD) seeking compensation for
emotional trauma suffered as a result of sexual acts committed
against her by her middle school teacher (who was convicted on
criminal charges of lewd acts against a child and sentenced to
three years in prison in 2011), the LAUSD argued in defense that
the student was mature enough to consent to sex with her
teacher. (See e.g. Watanabe, L.A. Unified Says Girl, 14, Could
Consent to Sex With Teacher, Los Angeles Times (Nov. 13, 2014)
Page 7
Accordingly, this bill seeks to remove any doubt as to whether a
minor can consent to sex with an adult in a position of
authority over the minor, as specified. It also seeks to
prohibit any prejudice to the minor by introduction of evidence
relating to the minor's sexual history for the specific purpose
of proving consent or an absence of injury. This bill allows
the introduction of such evidence only upon a hearing of the
court out of the presence of the jury in a manner consistent
with existing law, for the limited purposes of attacking the
credibility of the plaintiff minor or to prove something other
than consent, as specified.
Comments
The author writes:
Currently, the protections that exist in the civil and penal
code regarding consent are different. Civil code currently
allows defendants to argue minors consented to sexual activity
with an adult to avoid liability. Additionally, the law
allows defendants to use minor's sexual history as evidence
against the minor.
SB 14 ensures that consent may not be used as a defense in a
sexual battery case if the person is an adult in a position of
authority and [the] victim is a minor. The bill also prohibits
defendants from using a minor's sexual history as evidence of
the minor's consent or absence of injury.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified4/14/15)
California Communities United Institute
Crime Victims United of California
Junior League of Long Beach
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Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Approximately 50 individuals
OPPOSITION: (Verified4/14/15)
None received
Prepared by:Ronak Daylami / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
4/15/15 16:29:11
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