BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1189
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
1189 (Pan and Jackson)
As Amended August 3, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 24-14
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|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