BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1084
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
1084 (Hancock)
As Amended May 11, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 26-11
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Public Safety |5-2 |Jones-Sawyer, Lopez, |Melendez, Lackey |
| | |Low, Quirk, Santiago | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |14-6 |Gonzalez, Bloom, |Bigelow, Chang, |
| | |Bonilla, Bonta, |Gallagher, Jones, |
| | |Calderon, Daly, |Obernolte, Wagner |
| | |Eggman, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Weber, Wood, Chau | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Makes technical clarifying changes to existing
SB 1084
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provisions of law that authorizes a prisoner who was under 18
years of age at the time of committing an offense for which the
prisoner was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole
(LWOP) to submit a petition for recall and resentencing.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Clarifies that if the court finds by a preponderance of the
evidence that one or more of the statements in the petition is
true, the court shall recall the sentence and commitment
previously ordered and hold a hearing to resentence the
defendant.
2)States that the defendant may submit another petition if it
the sentence is not recalled or the defendant is resentenced
to LWOP.
3)Clarifies that the exclusionary factors must have been pled
and proved.
4)Specifies that nothing in this bill is intended to diminish or
abrogate any rights or remedies otherwise available to the
defendant.
5)Makes other technical changes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Authorizes a prisoner who was under 18 years of age at the
time of committing an offense for which the prisoner was
sentenced to LWOP to submit to the sentencing court a petition
for recall and resentencing after he or she has served at
least 15 years of his or her sentence.
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2)Requires the petition to include the defendant's statement
that he or she was under 18 years of age at the time of the
crime and was sentenced to LWOP, the defendant's statement
describing his or her remorse and work towards rehabilitation,
and the defendant's statement that one of the following is
true:
a) The defendant was convicted pursuant to felony murder or
aiding and abetting murder provisions of law;
b) The defendant does not have juvenile felony
adjudications for assault or other felony crimes with
significant potential for personal harm to victims prior to
the offense for which the sentence is considered for
recall;
c) The defendant committed the offense with at least one
adult codefendant; or,
d) The defendant has performed acts that tend to indicate
rehabilitation or the potential for rehabilitation,
including, but not limited to, availing himself or herself
of rehabilitative, educational, or vocational programs, if
those programs have been available at his or her
classification level and facility, using self-study for
self-improvement, or showing evidence of remorse.
3)Provides that if the court finds by a preponderance of the
evidence that the statements in the petition are true the
court shall hold a hearing to consider whether to recall the
sentence and commitment previously ordered and resentence the
defendant, provided that the new sentence, if any, is not
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greater than the initial sentence. Victims, or victim family
members if the victim is deceased, shall retain the rights to
participate in the hearing.
4)Provides that if a sentence is not recalled, the defendant may
submit another petition for recall and resentencing again
after having served 20 years, then 24 years, and a final
petition may be submitted during the 25th year of defendant's
sentence.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor absorbable annual General Fund costs to the
state trial courts.
COMMENTS: According to the author:
SB 1084 makes technical non-substantive changes to the
provisions allowing a person who was under 18 years of age
when sentenced to life without parole to submit a petition
for resentencing. The bill clarifies language that has
caused some confusion in the courts in the following ways:
Clarifies that the person convicted for a crime committed
while under the age of 18 and sentenced to LWOP can submit a
petition after he or she has been incarcerated at least 15
years.
Provides that if the court finds by a preponderance of the
evidence that one or more of the statements specified is true,
the court shall recall the sentence and commitment previously
ordered and hold a hearing to resentence the defendant.
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Clarifies that the defendant may submit another petition if
the sentence is not recalled or the defendant is resentenced
to LWOP.
Clarifies that nothing in the provisions dealing with the
ability of a person to seek a resentencing is intended to
diminish any rights or remedies otherwise available.
Makes other technical amendments.
Analysis Prepared by:
Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN:
0003791