BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          SB 813 (Leyva) - Sex offenses:  statute of limitations
          
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |                                                                 |
          |                                                                 |
          |                                                                 |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
          |                                |                                |
          |Version:  March 31, 2016        |Policy Vote:  PUB. S. 5 - 0     |
          |                                |                                |
          |--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
          |                                |                                |
          |Urgency:  No                    |Mandate:  No                    |
          |                                |                                |
          |--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
          |                                |                                |
          |Hearing Date:  April 25, 2016   |Consultant:  Jolie Onodera      |
          |                                |                                |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 


          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.




          Bill  
          Summary:  SB 813 would eliminate any statute of limitations for  
          specified felony sex offenses, as specified.


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  
            New prison commitments  :  Potentially significant increase in  
            ongoing state costs (General Fund), cumulatively increasing in  
            future years, for new commitments to state prison that  
            otherwise would have been time-barred under the applicable  
            statute of limitations. Data from CDCR indicates over 4,300  
            commitments to state prison in 2015 for the specified sex  
            crimes as a principal or subordinate offense. To the extent  
            prison commitments increase by even one-quarter of one percent  
            (10 individuals) in any one year would increase costs by  
            $300,000 for one year. Given the average length of stay in  
            excess of 10 years for many of these offenses, the cumulative  
            cost of 10 new commitments annually would be $13 million after  






          SB 813 (Leyva)                                         Page 1 of  
          ?
          
          
            10 years.
            Increase to parole and/or contracted bed space  :  Additionally,  
            in order to maintain compliance with the federal court-ordered  
            prison population cap, the CDCR could be required to release  
            more inmates onto parole, resulting in increased costs for  
            parole supervision (General Fund), or alternatively, contract  
            for additional bed space with local or private entities.
            Courts  :  Potential near-term and ongoing increase in state  
            court costs (General Fund*) for additional criminal actions  
            initiated for cases that otherwise would have been  
            disqualified under the existing applicable statute of  
            limitations. A potential increase in the number of petitions  
            filed for writ of habeas corpus could potentially result from  
            new convictions for cases that otherwise would have been  
            time-barred from prosecution.


          *Trial Court Trust Fund



          Background:  Existing law provides for the following four statutory  
          timeframes within which commencement of prosecution for felony  
          sex offenses is authorized:
             1)   The general limitations period for prosecuting sex  
               offenses subject to mandatory sex offender registration is  
               within 10 years after commission of the offense. (Penal  
               Code (PC) § 801.1(b).) 
             2)   If the sex offense is alleged to have been committed  
               against a person when that person was under the age of 18,  
               prosecution may commence any time up to the victim's 40th  
               birthday. (PC § 801.1(a).). 
             3)   In circumstances when the 10-year limitations period has  
               expired, a criminal complaint may be filed within one year  
               of the date a person of any age reports to law enforcement  
               that they were a victim of a child sex crime, if the  
               offense involved "substantial sexual conduct", as  
               specified, and there is independent evidence that  
               corroborates the victim's allegation, which must be proved  
               by clear and convincing evidence if the victim is 21 years  
               of age or older at the time of the report. (PC § 803(f).) 
             4)   Notwithstanding any other time limitation, a criminal  
               complaint may be filed within one year of the date on which  
               the identity of a suspect is conclusively established by  
               DNA testing in sex offense cases if the DNA is analyzed in  







          SB 813 (Leyva)                                         Page 2 of  
          ?
          
          
               a timely manner, as specified. (PC § 803(g).) 


          Proposed Law:  
           This bill would amend subdivision (b) of PC § 799 to provide  
          that the prosecution for the following felony sex offenses may  
          be commenced at any time:
                 Rape:  PC § 261 (a), paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4), (6)  
               or (7).
                 Spousal rape:  PC § 262 (a), paragraph (1), (2), (3),  
               (4), or (5).
                 In concert rape, spousal rape or forcible sexual  
               penetration:  PC § 264.1. 
                 Forcible sodomy:  PC § 286 (c), paragraph (2) or (3), or  
               PC § 286 (d), (f), (g), (i), or (k). 
                 Molestation of a child under the age of 14 involving  
               "substantial sexual conduct":  PC § 288(a), as defined in  
               PC § 1203.066(b). 
                 Molestation of a child under the age of 14 by use of  
               force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and  
               unlawful bodily injury on the victim or another person:  PC  
               § 288(b). 
                 Continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14:   
               PC § 288.5.
                 Forcible oral copulation:  PC § 288a(c), paragraph (2)  
               or (3), or PC § 288a (d), (f), (g), (i), or (k).
                 Forcible sexual penetration: PC § 289, (a), (b), (d),  
               (e), or (g).

          This bill provides that its provisions would apply to offenses  
          that were committed on or after January 1, 2017, and to offenses  
          for which the statute of limitations that was in effect prior to  
          January 1, 2017, has not run as of January 1, 2017.

          This bill additionally makes technical conforming amendments to  
          related statutes.


          Prior  
          Legislation:  SB 926 (Beall) Chapter 921/2014 extended the  
          statute of limitations for the commencement of prosecution for  
          specified felony sex offenses against a victim under the age of  
          18, from any time prior to the victim's 28th birthday to any  
          time prior to the victim's 40th birthday.
          SB 46 (Alquist) 2009 would have eliminated the statute of  







          SB 813 (Leyva)                                         Page 3 of  
          ?
          
          
          limitations for specified sex offenses committed against a  
          victim who was under the age of 14 at the time of the offense.  
          This bill failed passage in the Senate Committee on Public  
          Safety.


          SB 256 (Alquist) 2008 would have eliminated the statute of  
          limitations for sex offenses requiring registration as a sex  
          offender, allowing prosecution for these offenses at any time.  
          This bill failed passage in the Senate Committee on Public  
          Safety. 


          SB 1128 (Alquist) Chapter 337/2006 enacted the "Sex Offender  
          Punishment, Control, and Containment Act of 2006," which, among  
          its numerous provisions, increased the penalties for specified  
          sex offenses. 


          SB 111 (Alquist) Chapter 479/2005 extended the statute of  
          limitations for commencing prosecution for a felony sex offense  
          against a child under 18 to any time prior to the victim's 28th  
          birthday, as specified.


          SB 261 (Speier) 2005 would have eliminated the statute of  
          limitations for specified sex offenses. This bill was held on  
          the Suspense File of this Committee.




          Staff  
          Comments:  By eliminating the statute of limitations for the  
          prosecution of felony sex offenses, this bill could result in  
          additional prosecutions that otherwise would not have occurred  
          in the absence of this measure, subsequently resulting in new  
          convictions and commitments to state prison. The fiscal impact  
          of this bill cannot be known with certainty, as the actual  
          impact will be dependent on numerous factors including but not  
          limited to judicial and prosecutorial discretion and the factors  
          unique to each case. 
          Arrest data from the Department of Justice (DOJ) indicates over  
          12,600 arrests annually under the felony sex offenses specified,  
          with about 4,550 annual arrests (36 percent) leading to  







          SB 813 (Leyva)                                         Page 4 of  
          ?
          
          
          convictions. It is unknown what percentage of annual arrests may  
          have been time-barred from prosecution under existing law or how  
          many new arrests would occur due to the removal of the statute  
          of limitations, but to the extent additional prosecutions could  
          proceed, additional workload and costs would be imposed on the  
          courts.


          The prison term triads for the specified sex offenses vary and  
          include ranges such as 9, 11, or 13 years for any person who  
          commits rape or sodomy upon a child under 14 years of age, to up  
          to 16 years for continuous sexual abuse of a child under PC §  
          288.5. The magnitude of new costs for commitments to state  
          prison would be dependent on the underlying offenses and the  
          sentencing terms attached to those offenses. While costs in any  
          one year may not be significant, the cumulative effect over time  
          of overlapping sentences could be substantial. Commitment data  
          from CDCR reflects over 4,300 commitments to state prison in  
          2015 under the offenses specified in this measure as the  
          principal or subordinate offense. Additionally, data from CDCR  
          indicates the average length of stay for commitments to prison  
          under many of the specified Penal Code sections exceeds 10  
          years. 


          The Three-Judge Court has ordered the State to reduce its prison  
          population to 137.5 percent of the prison system's design  
          capacity by February 28, 2016. Pursuant to its February 10, 2014  
          order, the Court has ordered the CDCR to implement several  
          population reduction measures, prohibited an increase in the  
          population of inmates housed in out-of-state facilities, and  
          indicated the Court will maintain jurisdiction over the State  
          for as long as necessary to ensure that the State's compliance  
          with the 137.5 percent final benchmark is durable, and that such  
          durability is firmly established. Any future increases to the  
          State's prison population could challenge the ability of the  
          State to reach and maintain such a "durable solution," and could  
          require the State to pursue one of several options, including  
          contracting-out for additional bed space or releasing current  
          inmates early onto parole.


                                      -- END --

          







          SB 813 (Leyva)                                         Page 5 of  
          ?