BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 813
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB
813 (Leyva)
As Amended August 11, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 33-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Public Safety |6-0 |Jones-Sawyer, | |
| | |Melendez, Lackey, | |
| | |Lopez, Low, Santiago | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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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;
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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:
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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
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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
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