BILL NUMBER: SB 507 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 576
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 7, 2015
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 7, 2015
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 10, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 2, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 2, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 30, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Pavley
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend Section 6603 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to sexually violent predators.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 507, Pavley. Sexually violent predators.
Existing law provides for the civil commitment of criminal
offenders who have been determined to be sexually violent predators
for treatment in a secure state hospital facility. Under existing
law, persons to be evaluated for civil commitment are evaluated by 2
practicing psychiatrists or psychologists designated by the Director
of State Hospitals. If both evaluators concur that the person is
likely to engage in acts of sexual violence without appropriate
treatment and custody, the director is required to forward a request
for a petition for commitment to the district attorney or county
counsel, who may then file the petition with the court.
Under existing law, if the attorney petitioning for commitment
determines that updated evaluations are necessary in order to
properly present the case for commitment, the attorney may request
the department to perform updated evaluations, which include the
review of available medical and psychological records, including
treatment records, consultation with current treating clinicians, and
interviews of the person being evaluated. Existing law requires that
the department forward the updated evaluations to the petitioning
attorney and to the counsel for the person who is the subject of the
commitment hearing.
This bill would require the evaluator performing an updated
evaluation to include a statement listing the medical and
psychological records reviewed by the evaluator, and would direct the
court to issue a subpoena, upon the request of either party to the
civil commitment proceeding, for a certified copy of these records.
The bill would authorize the attorneys to use the records in the
commitment proceeding, but would prohibit disclosure of the records
for any other purpose.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 6603 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
6603. (a) A person subject to this article shall be entitled to a
trial by jury, to the assistance of counsel, to the right to retain
experts or professional persons to perform an examination on his or
her behalf, and to have access to all relevant medical and
psychological records and reports. In the case of a person who is
indigent, the court shall appoint counsel to assist him or her, and,
upon the person's request, assist the person in obtaining an expert
or professional person to perform an examination or participate in
the trial on the person's behalf. Any right that may exist under this
section to request DNA testing on prior cases shall be made in
conformity with Section 1405 of the Penal Code.
(b) The attorney petitioning for commitment under this article
shall have the right to demand that the trial be before a jury.
(c) (1) If the attorney petitioning for commitment under this
article determines that updated evaluations are necessary in order to
properly present the case for commitment, the attorney may request
the State Department of State Hospitals to perform updated
evaluations. If one or more of the original evaluators is no longer
available to testify for the petitioner in court proceedings, the
attorney petitioning for commitment under this article may request
the State Department of State Hospitals to perform replacement
evaluations. When a request is made for updated or replacement
evaluations, the State Department of State Hospitals shall perform
the requested evaluations and forward them to the petitioning
attorney and to the counsel for the person subject to this article.
However, updated or replacement evaluations shall not be performed
except as necessary to update one or more of the original evaluations
or to replace the evaluation of an evaluator who is no longer
available to testify for the petitioner in court proceedings. These
updated or replacement evaluations shall include review of available
medical and psychological records, including treatment records,
consultation with current treating clinicians, and interviews of the
person being evaluated, either voluntarily or by court order. If an
updated or replacement evaluation results in a split opinion as to
whether the person subject to this article meets the criteria for
commitment, the State Department of State Hospitals shall conduct two
additional evaluations in accordance with subdivision (f) of Section
6601.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, "no longer available to
testify for the petitioner in court proceedings" means that the
evaluator is no longer authorized by the Director of State Hospitals
to perform evaluations regarding sexually violent predators as a
result of any of the following:
(A) The evaluator has failed to adhere to the protocol of the
State Department of State Hospitals.
(B) The evaluator's license has been suspended or revoked.
(C) The evaluator is unavailable pursuant to Section 240 of the
Evidence Code.
(D) The independent professional or state employee who has served
as the evaluator has resigned or retired and has not entered into a
new contract to continue as an evaluator in the case, unless this
evaluator, in his or her most recent evaluation of the person subject
to this article, opined that the person subject to this article does
not meet the criteria for commitment.
(d) This section does not prevent the defense from presenting
otherwise relevant and admissible evidence.
(e) If the person subject to this article or the petitioning
attorney does not demand a jury trial, the trial shall be before the
court without a jury.
(f) A unanimous verdict shall be required in any jury trial.
(g) The court shall notify the State Department of State Hospitals
of the outcome of the trial by forwarding to the department a copy
of the minute order of the court within 72 hours of the decision.
(h) This section does not limit any legal or equitable right that
a person may have to request DNA testing.
(i) Subparagraph (D) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) does not
affect the authority of the State Department of State Hospitals to
conduct two additional evaluations when an updated or replacement
evaluation results in a split opinion.
(j) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, the evaluator performing an
updated evaluation shall include with the evaluation a statement
listing all records reviewed by the evaluator pursuant to subdivision
(c). The court shall issue a subpoena, upon the request of either
party, for a certified copy of these records. The records shall be
provided to the attorney petitioning for commitment and the counsel
for the person subject to this article. The attorneys may use the
records in proceedings under this article and shall not disclose them
for any other purpose.
(2) This subdivision does not affect the right of a party to
object to the introduction at trial of all or a portion of a record
subpoenaed under paragraph (1) on the ground that it is more
prejudicial than probative pursuant to Section 352 of the Evidence
Code or that it is not material to the issue of whether the person
subject to this article is a sexually violent predator, as defined in
subdivision (a) of Section 6600, or to any other issue to be decided
by the court. If the relief is granted, in whole or in part, the
record or records shall retain any confidentiality that may apply
under Section 5328 of this code and Section 1014 of the Evidence
Code.
(3) This subdivision does not affect any right of a party to seek
to obtain other records regarding the person subject to this article.
(4) Except as provided in paragraph (1), this subdivision does not
affect any right of a committed person to assert that records are
confidential under Section 5328 of this code or Section 1014 of the
Evidence Code.
SEC. 2. Nothing in this act is intended to affect the
determination by the Supreme Court of California, in People v.
Superior Court (Smith) (Docket No. S225562), whether an expert
retained by the district attorney in a proceeding under the Sexually
Violent Predator Act (Article 4 (commencing with Section 6600) of
Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 6 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code) is entitled to review otherwise confidential treatment
information under Section 5328 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.