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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          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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            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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          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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          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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          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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