BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 1088 (Nguyen) - Wrongful concealment: accidental death
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Version: March 28, 2016 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 7 - 0 |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Hearing Date: May 2, 2016 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 1088 would raise the penalty for concealing an
accidental death from a misdemeanor to an alternate
felony-misdemeanor, as specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
State prisons : Potential increase in state costs (General
Fund) to the extent the greater penalty for concealing an
accidental death results in additional commitments to state
prison. To the extent even two defendants are impacted in any
one year under the provisions of this bill could increase
state incarceration costs by $58,000 based on the estimated
contract bed rate of $29,000 per year.
County jails : Potential increase in local costs (Local
Funds/General Fund*) for additional prosecutions, convictions,
and commitments to county jail that otherwise would have been
time-barred under the one-year statute of limitations for
prosecution of this offense as a misdemeanor under existing
SB 1088 (Nguyen) Page 1 of
?
law.
*Proposition 30 (2012) provides that legislation enacted after
September 30, 2012, that has an overall effect of increasing the
costs already borne by a local agency, as specified, apply to
local agencies only to the extent the State provides annual
funding for the cost increase. Although legislation creating a
new crime or revising the definition of an existing crime is
exempt from Proposition 30 state funding requirements,
legislation that changes the penalty for an existing crime is
not similarly specifically exempt. Concealing an accidental
death is an existing crime. To the extent the greater penalty
imposed for committing this offense is determined to change the
penalty for this crime, any increase in costs to local agencies
attributable to the provisions of this legislation could
potentially require annual funding from the State.
Background: Existing law provides that it is a misdemeanor to actively
conceal an accidental death, or attempt to do so. This
misdemeanor is punishable by a jail term of up to one year, or
by a fine of no less than $1,000 and no more than $10,000, or by
both the fine and imprisonment. (Penal Code § 152 (a).)
Existing law provides that to conceal an accidental death means
to do one of the following acts:
Perform an overt act that conceals the body or directly
impedes the ability of authorities or family members to
discover the body.
Directly destroy or suppress evidence of the actual
physical body of the deceased, including, but not limited
to, bodily fluids or tissues.
Destroy or suppress the actual physical instrumentality
of death. (PC § 152 (b).)
Existing law provides that employers must immediately report a
workplace death to the Cal-OSHA (California Occupational Safety
and Health Administration). (Labor Code §§ 6409.1 and 6409.2.)
Proposed Law:
This bill would raise the penalty for concealing an accidental
death from a misdemeanor to an alternate felony-misdemeanor,
SB 1088 (Nguyen) Page 2 of
?
punishable by imprisonment pursuant to PC § 1170(h), or by a
fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000, or by both
that fine and imprisonment.
Prior
Legislation: SB 139 (Johnson) Chapter 396/1999 established that
a person who conceals an accidental death, as defined, is guilty
of a misdemeanor.
Staff
Comments: By raising the penalty for the crime of concealing an
accidental death, the provisions of this bill could result in
additional costs to the state and local agencies, including
additional costs to the courts, for prosecutions and convictions
that otherwise would have been time-barred under existing law
for concealing an accidental offense as a misdemeanor offense.
The number of additional commitments to state prison cannot be
estimated with certainty given the numerous factors involved in
charging and sentencing, including but not limited to judicial
and prosecutorial discretion, the prior criminal history of the
defendant, and the elements specific to each case. To the extent
the concealment of a death could potentially be added as an
additional charge in a homicide prosecution, even in the absence
of sufficient evidence to prove the murder or manslaughter, the
defendant could still potentially be convicted of concealing an
accidental death.
Additionally, as noted in the Public Safety Committee analysis
of this measure, "Further, proof that a murder defendant
concealed the body of the decedent would certainly be used as
important and powerful evidence of consciousness of guilt. In
any case in which the defendant fled the scene of a crime,
intimidated witnesses or hid evidence, the court would instruct
the jury that the defendant's conduct could be considered in
determining his or her guilt." (PC § 1127c.)
By raising the penalty for this offense to an alternate
felony-misdemeanor, the practical effect is the statute of
limitations to prosecute this crime is extended from one year to
three years, which could result in more prosecutions than
SB 1088 (Nguyen) Page 3 of
?
otherwise would have been allowable under existing law.
Staff notes that concealing an accidental death is a crime under
existing law. Pursuant to Proposition 30 (2012), legislation
enacted after September 30, 2012, that has an overall effect of
increasing the costs already borne by a local agency for
programs or levels of service mandated by the 2011 Realignment
Legislation apply to local agencies only to the extent that the
state provides annual funding for the cost increase. Although
Proposition 30 specifies that legislation defining a new crime
or changing the definition of an existing crime is not subject
to this provision, changing the penalty for a crime is not
specifically exempted and could potentially require a subvention
of funds from the state. To the extent increasing the penalty
for concealing an accidental death is determined to change the
penalty for the existing crime, any increase in costs to local
agencies attributable to provisions of this legislation could
potentially require annual funding from the State.