BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    SB 1189


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          SENATE THIRD READING


          SB  
          1189 (Pan and Jackson)


          As Amended  August 3, 2016


          Majority vote


          SENATE VOTE:  24-14


           ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
          |Committee       |Votes|Ayes                  |Noes                |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
          |Public Safety   |7-0  |Jones-Sawyer,         |                    |
          |                |     |Melendez, Lackey,     |                    |
          |                |     |Lopez, Low, Quirk,    |                    |
          |                |     |Santiago              |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
          |Appropriations  |19-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow,    |                    |
          |                |     |Bloom, Bonilla,       |                    |
          |                |     |Bonta, Calderon,      |                    |
          |                |     |Daly, Eggman,         |                    |
          |                |     |Gallagher,            |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |Eduardo Garcia,       |                    |
          |                |     |Holden, Jones,        |                    |
          |                |     |Obernolte, Quirk,     |                    |
          |                |     |Santiago, Wagner,     |                    |








                                                                    SB 1189


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          |                |     |Weber, Wood, Chu      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
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          SUMMARY:  Requires that a forensic autopsy, as defined, be  
          conducted by a licensed physician and surgeon.  Specifically,  
          this bill:  


          1)Provides that a forensic autopsy shall only be conducted by a  
            licensed physician and surgeon, and the results of a forensic  
            autopsy only be determined by a licensed physician and  
            surgeon.


          2)Defines a "forensic autopsy" to mean an examination of a body  
            of a decedent to generate medical evidence for which the cause  
            and manner of death is determined.


          3)Defines "postmortem examination" to mean the external  
            examination of the body where no manner of death is  
            determined.


          4)States that the manner of death shall be determined by the  
            coroner or medical examiner of a county.  If a forensic  
            autopsy is conducted by a licensed physician and surgeon, the  
            coroner shall consult with the physician in determining the  
            cause of death.


          5)Provides that for health and safety purposes, all persons in  
            the autopsy suite shall be informed of the risks presented by  
            blood borne pathogens and that they should wear personal  
            protective equipment, as specified.









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          6)States that only persons directly involved in the  
            investigation of the death of the decedent shall be allowed  
            into the autopsy suite.


          7)Provides that if an individual dies due to the involvement of  
            law enforcement activity, law enforcement directly involved  
            with the death of that individual shall not be involved with  
            any portion of the post mortem examination, nor allowed into  
            the autopsy suite during the performance of the autopsy.


          8)States that at the discretion of the coroner and in  
            consultation with the licensed physician and surgeon  
            conducting the autopsy, individuals may be permitted in the  
            autopsy suite for educational and research purposes.


          9)Requires that any police reports, crime scene or other  
            information, videos, or laboratory test that are in the  
            possession of law enforcement and are related to a death that  
            is incident to law enforcement activity be made available to  
            the forensic pathologist prior to the completion of the  
            investigation of the death.


          10)States that the above autopsy protocol shall not be construed  
            to limit the practice of an autopsy for educational or  
            research purposes.


          11)Makes conforming changes to other provisions of law relating  
            to the conduct of an autopsy.


          EXISTING LAW:  










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          1)Requires coroners to determine the manner, circumstances and  
            cause of death in the following circumstances:
             a)   Violent, sudden or unusual deaths;
             b)   Unattended deaths;


             c)   When the deceased was not attended by a physician, or  
               registered nurse who is part of a hospice care  
               interdisciplinary team, in the 20 days before death;


             d)   When the death is related to known or suspected  
               self-induced or criminal abortion;


             e)   Known or suspected homicide, suicide or accidental  
               poisoning;


             f)   Deaths suspected as a result of an accident or injury  
               either old or recent;


             g)   Drowning, fire, hanging, gunshot, stabbing, cutting,  
               exposure, starvation, acute alcoholism, drug addiction,  
               strangulation, aspiration, or sudden infant death syndrome;


             h)   Deaths in whole or in part occasioned by criminal means;


             i)   Deaths associated with a known or alleged rape or crime  
               against nature;


             j)   Deaths in prison or while under sentence;


             aa)  Deaths known or suspected as due to contagious disease  








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               and constituting a public hazard;


             bb)  Deaths from occupational diseases or occupational  
               hazards;


             cc)  Deaths of patients in state mental hospitals operated by  
               the State Department of State Hospitals;


             dd)  Deaths of patients in state hospitals serving the  
               developmentally disabled operated by the State Department  
               of Development Services;


             ee)  Deaths where a reasonable ground exists to suspect the  
               death was caused by the criminal act of another; and


             ff)  Deaths reported for inquiry by physicians and other  
               persons having knowledge of the death.  


          2)Requires the coroner or medical examiner to sign the  
            certificate of death when they perform a mandatory inquiry.  
          3)Allows the coroner or medical examiner discretion when  
            determining the extent of the inquiry required to determine  
            the manner, circumstances and cause of death.  


          4)Requires the coroner or medical examiner to conduct an autopsy  
            at the request of the surviving spouse or other specified  
            persons when an autopsy has not already been performed.  


          5)Allows the coroner or medical examiner discretion to conduct  
            an autopsy at the request of the surviving spouse or other  
            specified persons when an autopsy has already been performed.   








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          6)Specifies that the cost of autopsies requested by the  
            surviving spouse or other specified persons are borne by the  
            requestor.  


          7)Requires that discretionary autopsies include the following:


             a)   All available finger and palm prints;
             b)   Dental examination;


             c)   Collection of tissue including hair sample and  
               (deoxyribonucleic acid) DNA sample, if necessary;


             d)   Notation and photographs of significant marks, scars,  
               tattoos and personal effects;


             e)   Notation of observations pertinent to the time of death;  
               and


             f)   Documentation of the location of the remains.  


          8)Provides that a coroner shall within 24 hours, or a soon as  
            feasible thereafter, where the suspected cause of death is  
            sudden infant death syndrome, take possession of the body, and  
            make or cause to be made a postmortem examination or autopsy  
            thereon, and the detailed medical findings resulting from an  
            examination of the body or autopsy by an examining physician  
            must either be reduced to writing, or permanently preserved,  
            as specified. 
          9)Defines "sudden infant death syndrome" to mean the sudden  








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            death of an infant that is unexpected by the history of the  
            infant and where a thorough postmortem fails to demonstrate an  
            adequate cause of death.  


          10)Requires that an autopsy conducted where it is suspected that  
            the cause of death is sudden infant death syndrome be  
            conducted pursuant to a standardized protocol developed by the  
            State Department of Public Health (SDPH).  The protocol shall  
            be developed and approved by July 1, 1990.  


          11)Requires that all coroners, throughout the state, follow the  
            established protocol when conducting autopsies where the  
            suspected cause of death is sudden infant death syndrome, and  
            requires a coroner to state on the certificate of death that  
            sudden infant death syndrome  was the cause of death when the  
            findings are consistent with the definition of sudden infant   
            death syndrome.  


          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, "The Department of Consumer Affairs reports that this  
          bill would have no fiscal impact.


          "Potential minor reimbursable mandated costs, but so minor that  
          it is doubtful a mandate claim will be submitted."


          COMMENTS:  According to author, "Autopsy reports are valuable  
          documents that should be accurate and unbiased.  Current law  
          presents grey areas which could undermine public confidence in  
          autopsy findings by allowing non-medically trained individuals,  
          who are often elected or appointed, to conduct the autopsies.   
          Current law also allows law enforcement involved with the death  
          of the individual inside the autopsy suite during the procedure  
          which could create the appearance of influence on the findings  
          and create public distrust in our criminal justice system.  Not  








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          only do families deserve to know what happened to their loved  
          ones, but the public and juries need to trust that they received  
          accurate objective information to make the correct verdict on a  
          criminal case.  SB 1189 is important to clarify and codify the  
          best practices taking place in an autopsy room to guarantee an  
          objective and trustworthy autopsy system."  


          Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion  
          of this bill.




          Analysis Prepared by:                                             
                          Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744  FN:  
          0003947