BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 813 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 813 (Leyva) As Amended August 11, 2016 Majority vote SENATE VOTE: 33-0 -------------------------------------------------------------------- |Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------| |Public Safety |6-0 |Jones-Sawyer, | | | | |Melendez, Lackey, | | | | |Lopez, Low, Santiago | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: Eliminates any statute of limitation for specified sex offenses. Specifically, this bill: 1)Provides that prosecution for the following offenses may commence at any time: a) Rape, as specified; SB 813 Page 2 b) Spousal rape, as specified; c) Rape in concert, as specified; d) Sodomy, as specified; e) Lewd acts upon a child involving "substantial sexual conduct," as specified; f) Continuous sexual abuse of a child; g) Oral copulation, as specified; and, h) Sexual penetration, as specified. 2)Specifies that the elimination of the statute of limitations shall only apply to crimes that were committed on or after January 1, 2017, or for which the statute of limitations that was in effect before January 1, 2017, has not run as of that date. 3)Makes technical conforming changes to related statutes. 4)Double joins this bill with SB 1088 (Nguyen) of the current legislative session to avoid chaptering out issues. EXISTING LAW: SB 813 Page 3 1)Provides that there is no statute of limitations for crimes punishable by death, or by imprisonment in the state prison for life, or by life without the possibility of parole. 2)Provides that prosecution for crimes punishable by imprisonment for eight years or more and not otherwise covered must be commenced within six years after commission of the offense. 3)Provides that prosecution for other felonies punishable by less than eight years must be commenced within three years after commission of the offense. 4)Provides that, notwithstanding any other time limitations, for specified sex crimes that are alleged to have been committed when the victim was under the age of 18, prosecution may be commenced any time prior to the victim's 40th birthday. 5)Provides that prosecution for a felony offense requiring sex offender registration shall be commenced within 10 years after commission of the offense. 6)Provides that a criminal complaint may be filed within one year after a report to a law enforcement agency that a person was the victim of a sexual offense while under the age of 18 years. To file such a complaint, the applicable limitation period must have expired and the alleged crime must have involved substantial sexual conduct corroborated by evidence, as specified. 7)Provides that, notwithstanding any other limitation of time, a criminal complaint may be filed within one year of the date on which the identity of the suspect is conclusively established SB 813 Page 4 by deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing if specified conditions are met. 8)Provides that if more than one time period described in the statute of limitations scheme applies, the time for commencing an action is governed by that period that expires the latest in time. FISCAL EFFECT: None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel COMMENTS: According to the author, "The purpose of the 'Justice for Victims Act' is simple: To prevent rapists and sexual predators from evading legal consequences in California simply because the statute of limitations has run its course. Regardless of when a rape or sexual assault is discovered or reported, survivors of sexual offenses must have an opportunity to seek justice in a court of law. SB 813 does not change the burden of proof and victims will still have to prove their allegations in court. All this bill does is extend the opportunity for victims to have their day in court since there should never be an expiration date on justice." Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of this bill. Analysis Prepared by: Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN: 0003950 SB 813 Page 5