BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1088|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1088
Author: Nguyen (R) and Bates (R), et al.
Amended: 8/4/16
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 4/19/16
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/27/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
SENATE FLOOR: 37-0, 5/31/16
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hancock,
Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno,
Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach,
Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski,
Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hall, Morrell, Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-1, 8/18/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Wrongful concealment: statute of limitations
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill states that, notwithstanding any other
statutes of limitations, if a person actively conceals or
attempts to conceal an accidental death, a criminal complaint
may be filed within one year after the person is initially
identified by law enforcement as a suspect in the commission of
that offense.
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Page 2
Assembly Amendments strike the prior version of the bill that
would have made the active concealment of an accidental death an
alternate felony-misdemeanor. The bill now provides that the
one-year statute of limitations shall run from the date of
discovery of the offense, not the date of the offense. The
amendments also include chaptering amendments protect this bill
and SB 813 (Leyva).
ANALYSIS:
1)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 a fine of
between $1,000 and $10,000, or both. (Pen. Code § 152, subd.
(a).)
2)Provides that to conceal an accidental death means to do one
of the following acts:
a) Perform an overt act that conceals the body or directly
impedes the ability of authorities or family members to
discover the body.
b) Directly destroy or suppress evidence of the actual
physical body of the deceased, including, but not limited
to, bodily fluids or tissues.
c) Destroy or suppress the actual physical instrumentality
of death. (Pen. Code § 152, subd. (b).)
3)Provides that prosecution for felonies punishable for eight
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Page 3
years or more and not otherwise covered must be commenced
within six years after commission of the offense. (Pen. Code
§ 800.)
4)Provides that prosecution for felonies punishable by less than
eight years must be commenced within three years after
commission of the offense. (Pen. Code § 801
5)Provides that prosecution for misdemeanors shall be commenced
within one year after commission of the offense. (Pen. Code §
802.)
6)Provides exceptions for the one-year statute of limitations
for specified misdemeanors, including that some misdemeanors
may be prosecuted from one year following discovery of the
offense. (Pen. Code § 803.)
This bill states that, notwithstanding any other statutes of
limitations, if a person actively conceals or attempts to
conceal an accidental death, a criminal complaint may be filed
within one year after the person is initially identified by law
enforcement as a suspect in the commission of that offense.
Comments
According to the author, "SB 1088 would extend the statute of
limitations in cases of accidental body concealment to one year
from the time a suspect is initially identified by law
enforcement. This extension provides additional time for
authorities to hold those responsible in accidental body
concealment cases. Families of the victims of body dumping
deserve to have closure in these rare cases."
The current misdemeanor of actively concealing an accidental
death became effective 2000. It is not known how many
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Page 4
defendants have been prosecuted under this law. The Senate
Public Safety Committee staff has been unable to find any
appellate decisions interpreting the statute. That is not
surprising, as misdemeanor appellate decisions by the superior
court appellate division are seldom published. If the felony
penalties in this bill are enacted, there would be a greater
likelihood that a conviction would be challenged and a published
decision on the statute issued by the Court of Appeal.
One issue that might arise on appeal is whether the term
"accidental death" is vague. To survive a challenge that a
criminal statute is as vague as to deny due process, the statute
must inform a person of ordinary intelligence what it prohibits
or requires. (Connally v. General Construction Company (1926)
269 U.S. 385.) Neither current law nor this bill defines
"accidental death." It appears that an accidental death would
encompass any death that was not a criminal homicide. The
determination of whether a death was accidental or intentional,
and thus likely prosecuted as a criminal homicide, may not be
simple.
Under this bill, where the police believe that a person has
concealed a death, Miranda warnings would be required in any
interview conducted while the suspect was in custody or its
functional equivalent. A "suspect" is a person upon whom
investigating officers have focused their attention as the
likely perpetrator of a crime. (People v. Stansbury (1993) 4
Cal.4th 1017, 1050-1054.) "Custody" generally means detention
by the police such that the person is not free to leave. (Id,
at 1053-1054; People v. Esqueda (1993) 17 Cal.App.4th 1450.)
Evidence that would supply generalized suspicion about a murder
- the person's concealment of a death - would constitute
particular suspicion about the crime of concealing a death. The
police would then be required to inform the person of his or her
right to remain silent as to a possible prosecution for
concealing the fact of a death. If the person then refuses to
speak to the police and hires counsel, important evidence could
be lost. If a suspect in a concealment of a body case is
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Page 5
interrogated in custody and Miranda warnings are not given,
admissions by the suspect which implicate him or her in a murder
could be found to be inadmissible in court.
There may be numerous cases where a person who conceals a death
is investigated, arrested and prosecuted for murder or another
form of homicide. If the person is not arrested and questioned
as a suspect in the concealment of an accidental death that
offense could still be included as an additional charge in a
homicide prosecution. If there is insufficient evidence to
prove murder or manslaughter, the defendant could still be
convicted of concealing an accidental death.
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. (Pen. Code § 1127c.)
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/18/16)
Anaheim Police Department
California State Sheriffs' Association
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Orange County District Attorney
Orange County Sheriff's Department
Santa Ana Police Department
Several hundred individuals
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/22/16)
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Page 6
California Public Defenders Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-1, 8/18/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine,
Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell,
Olsen, Patterson, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk,
Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Mark Stone
NO VOTE RECORDED: Roger Hernández, Quirk
Prepared by:Jerome McGuire / PUB. S. /
8/22/16 10:50:05
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