BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       SB 1186|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520    Fax: (916)      |                              |
          |327-4478                          |                              |
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  SB 1186
          Author:   Lara (D) 
          Amended:  5/3/16  
          Vote:     27 - Urgency

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  7-0, 5/23/16
           AYES:  Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen

           SUBJECT:   State claims


          SOURCE:    Author


          DIGEST:  This bill, an urgency measure, appropriates  
          approximately $4.38 million from specified funds to the  
          California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board  
          (board) for the payment of 273 state claims.  
          
          ANALYSIS:  Existing law requires the board to ensure that all  
          claims that have been approved by the board, and for which no  
          legally available appropriation exists, are submitted for  
          legislative approval at least twice during each calendar year.

          This bill, an urgency measure, appropriates $647,443.32 in  
          various state funds, including $606,296.25 directly from the  
          General Fund, to the board for the payment of 267 state claims  
          for reissuance of stale-dated warrants. This bill also  
          appropriates $3,728,840 to the board for payment of six  
          specified erroneous conviction claims:  











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          Erroneous Conviction Claims
           Obie Anthony III, preponderance of evidence, $581,600.  Mr.  
            Anthony was convicted of murder and attempted murder and  
            sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1995.  In April  
            2010, Mr. Anthony filed a habeas corpus petition.  His murder  
            conviction was overturned on September 30, 2011, on the  
            grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel, false and  
            misleading testimony, and prosecutorial misconduct, but the  
            judge determined that he had not met his burden of proving  
            actual innocence.  Mr. Anthony filed a claim for compensation  
            as an erroneously convicted person in September 2013, and the  
            court determined on May 30, 2014, that there was a  
            preponderance of evidence that the offenses that resulted in  
            the death of one man and injuries to two others were not  
            committed by Mr. Anthony, and it was determined that he had no  
            involvement in those offenses or the events surrounding them.   
            Mr. Anthony was incarcerated for 5,816 days.



           John Smith, preponderance of evidence, $653,600.  In 1994, Mr.  
            Smith was convicted of murder, attempted murder and  
            enhancements of personal use of a firearm, personal discharge  
            of a firearm from a vehicle, and intentional infliction of  
            great bodily injury, as a result of a drive-by shooting in Los  
            Angeles.  In October 2010, Mr. Smith filed a habeas corpus  
            petition, asserting that false testimony was introduced during  
            his trial identifying him as the shooter.  The sole eye  
            witness recanted his statement identifying Mr. Smith as the  
            shooter in the incident, and the court found that the  
            eyewitness perjured himself at trial and granted the habeas  
            petition vacating Smith's convictions and sentencing, but  
            declined to make any finding of factual innocence.  Mr. Smith  
            filed a claim for compensation as an erroneously convicted  
            person with the board in September 2014.  The Los Angeles  
            District Attorney's Office conceded that he met his burden of  
            establishing his innocence by a preponderance of the evidence,  
            and the Attorney General's Office concurred.  The board  
            ultimately determined that Mr. Smith met his burden of proving  







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            he did not commit the murder as charged and convicted and  
            there is a preponderance of evidence that he is innocent of  
            the crime, and that he sustained pecuniary injury through his  
            erroneous conviction and imprisonment.  Mr. Smith was  
            incarcerated for 6,536 days.



           Marco Milla, binding finding of factual innocence, $654,500.   
            On October 24, 2001, Marco Milla was arrested and charged with  
            one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder after  
            it was alleged that he shot at a passing vehicle during a  
            gang-related shooting.  On December 23, 2002, the jury found  
            Mr. Milla guilty on all charges and sentenced him to life in  
            prison without the possibility of parole, and the conviction  
            was affirmed on appeal on December 20, 2004.  In 2010, the Los  
            Angeles County District Attorney's Office was informed by the  
            U.S. Department of Homeland Security that a confidential  
            informant on an unrelated investigation had witnessed the  
            shooting for which Mr. Milla was convicted.  The informant  
            named a gang member who was the shooter and stated that Milla  
            was not even present at the scene.  In January 2014, Mr. Milla  
            filed a habeas corpus petition based on the newly discovered  
            informant, and the informant testified at the hearing that  
            Milla was not the shooter.  His petition was granted, his  
            prior convictions were vacated, and a new trial was ordered.   
            The LA District Attorney declined to seek a second trial and  
            on January 13, 2016, Milla received a finding of factual  
            innocence.  Mr. Milla was incarcerated for 4,675 days.



           Larry Pohlschneider, binding finding of factual innocence,  
            $762,440.  In January of 2001, Mr. Pohlschneider was convicted  
            of three counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child, with a  
            multiple victim enhancement, and was sentenced to 24 years in  
            state prison.  On October 7, 2015, the trial court granted Mr.  
            Pohlschneider's petition for writ of habeas corpus based on a  
            claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, and on November  
            24, 2015, the trial court found that he had met his burden of  
            proving actual innocence and that the crimes with which he was  
            charged were not committed by him.  









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          Mr. Pohlschneider was incarcerated for 5,446 days.

           Timothy Gantt ($512,600) and Michael Smith ($564,100), board  
            approved claim.  In 1994, Mr. Gantt and Mr. Smith were  
            convicted on charges of murder and second degree robbery,  
            along with a special circumstance of murder while engaged in  
            the commission of a robbery, and sentenced to life  
            imprisonment without the possibility of parole.  The judgments  
            were affirmed on appeal.  Mr. Gantt subsequently filed  
            multiple habeas corpus petitions.  In March 1998, his petition  
            alleging the prosecutor had withheld exculpatory evidence from  
            the defense was initially dismissed, but the Court of Appeals  
            reversed the dismissal and remanded the matter back to  
            District Court for an evidentiary hearing.  On April 21, 2006,  
            the District Court granted Mr. Gantt's writ of habeas corpus,  
            which was affirmed on appeal.  The Los Angeles District  
            Attorney's Office elected to retry Gantt, but during the trial  
            the D.A. stated that it was unable to proceed due to  
            difficulties with an eyewitness, and dismissed the case.  The  
            witness expressed uncertainty about his identification of  
            Gantt.  Mr. Gantt was released from custody on June 5, 2008.   
            In November 2009, Mr. Smith filed a habeas corpus petition.   
            The D.A. did not oppose the motion and Mr. Smith was released  
            from prison.



          Mr. Gantt filed his claim for compensation for erroneous  
            conviction and imprisonment on November 17, 2008, and Mr.  
            Smith filed his claim on July 14, 2011.  All parties agreed to  
            join the claims for a hearing before the board since the  
            evidence and facts are similar.  At the board hearing, the  
            Attorney General's Office acknowledged that evidence against  
            the claimants was not strong, but argued that the claimants  
            had not met their burden of proving their innocence to a  
            preponderance of the evidence more likely than not that they  
            are innocent than guilty.  The board members noted that the  
            evidence against the claimants was weak and circumstantial,  
            and unanimously approved the claims for compensation.  Mr.  
            Gantt was imprisoned for 5,125 days and Mr. Smith was  
            imprisoned for 5,640 days.
          Background

          The State Board of Control was established in 1945.  It was  







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          revised and renamed the Victim Compensation and Government  
          Claims Board by AB 2491 (Jackson, Chapter 1016, Statutes of  
          2000).  Government Code 13928 requires the board to ensure that  
          all claims that have been approved by the board, and for which  
          no legally available appropriation exists, are submitted for  
          legislative approval at least twice during each calendar year.   
          In general, the board will approve claims in November and  
          February.  Those claims are reported to the chairs of the  
          Appropriations Committees who introduce bills appropriating  
          General Funds and special funds to pay the claims.  These bills  
          may appropriate funds in amounts to the penny for tens to  
          hundreds of claims.  Government Code 906 provides for the  
          payment of interest on claims approved by the board for which an  
          appropriation has been made beginning 30 days after the  
          effective date of the law by which the appropriation is enacted.

          The re-issuance of stale-dated warrants is the most prevalent  
          claim approved by the board.  For stale-dated warrants, the  
          State Controller must confirm that (1) the check was not cashed  
          and has not been issued and (2) more than three years have  
          elapsed since the check was issued and the monies have reverted  
          to the General Fund or to the relevant special fund.  For these  
          warrants an appropriation is needed to reissue the payment.   
          This category also may include state treasury bonds that have  
          not been redeemed within 10 years of their maturity date (there  
          are no such claims in this bill), but the majority of warrants  
          are payroll or tax refund checks.  

          In addition to stale-dated warrants, existing law authorizes a  
          person convicted and imprisoned for a felony to submit a claim  
          to the board for pecuniary injury sustained as a result of  
          erroneous conviction and imprisonment.  Recent changes to these  
          provisions, SB 618 (Leno, Chapter 800, Statutes of 2013),  
          specify that a person who has secured a declaration of factual  
          innocence from the court after having his or her conviction set  
          aside is eligible payment in a claim against the state.  Upon  
          application by the petitioner, the board shall, without a  
          hearing, recommend to the Legislature an appropriation to cover  
          the claim.  Likewise, if the court finds the petitioner has  
          proven his or her innocence by a preponderance of the evidence,  
          or the court grants a writ of habeas corpus concerning a person  
          who is unlawfully imprisoned, or when the court vacates a  
          judgment for a person on the basis of new evidence concerning a  
          person who is no longer unlawfully imprisoned, and the court  







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          finds the evidence points unerringly to innocence, the board  
          shall, upon application by the claimant, without a hearing,  
          recommend to the Legislature an appropriation to cover the  
          petitioner's claim.

          Otherwise, a claimant is required to introduce evidence in  
          support of his or her claim at a hearing before the board, and  
          the Attorney General may introduce evidence in opposition.  The  
          claimant must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) the  
          crime was not committed at all, or, if committed, was not  
          committed by the claimant; (2) the claimant did not contribute  
          to the arrest or conviction for the crime; and (3) the claimant  
          sustained pecuniary injury though the erroneous conviction and  
          imprisonment. 

          If a claimant meets the burden of proof, the board shall  
          recommend to the Legislature an appropriation of $140 per day of  
          incarceration served in a state prison subsequent to the  
          claimant's conviction.  That amount was recently raised from  
          $100 to $140, upon enactment of SB 635 (Nielsen, Chapter 422,  
          Statutes of 2015), so claims approved by the board prior to  
          January 1, 2016, provide payment of $100 per day of  
          incarceration.

          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation: Yes    Fiscal Com.: Yes       
          Local: No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:  

           Stale-dated warrants. General Fund appropriations in the  
            amount of $606,296.25 to pay 227 claims, and appropriations  
            from specific budget items in the amount of $41,147.07 to pay  
            40 claims (General Fund/special funds).  All of these claims  
            are for reissuance of stale-dated warrants (expired checks).   
            The individual claim amounts range from $9.02 to $116,910.

           Erroneous convictions:

             1)   General Fund appropriation in the amount of $581,600 to  
               pay the claim of Obie Steven Anthony III, approved by the  
               board on September 17, 2015.

             2)   General Fund appropriation in the amount of $653,600 to  
               pay the claim of John Smith, approved by the board on  







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               September 17, 2015.

             3)   General Fund appropriation in the amount of $654,500 to  
               pay the claim of Marco Milla, approved by the board on  
               March 17, 2016.

             4)   General Fund appropriation in the amount of $762,440 to  
               pay the claim of Larry Pohlschneider, approved by the board  
               on April 21, 2016.

             5)   General Fund appropriation in the amount of $564,100 to  
               pay the claim of Michael Smith, approved by the board on  
               October 15, 2015.

             6)   General Fund appropriation in the amount of $512,600 to  
               pay the claim of Timothy Gantt, approved by the board on  
               October 15, 2015.


          SUPPORT:   (Verified  5/24/16)


          None received


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified  5/24/16)


          None received



          Prepared by:Mark McKenzie / APPR. / (916) 651-4101
          5/25/16 13:50:25


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