BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 220|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 220
Author: Assembly Public Safety Committee
Amended: 3/30/05 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-2, 6/7/05
AYES: Dunn, Cedillo, Figueroa, Kuehl
NOES: Morrow, Ackerman
NO VOTE RECORDED: Escutia
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 58-12, 4/7/05 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Domestic violence
SOURCE : Free Battered Women
DIGEST : This bill amends various statutes that reference
"battered woman syndrome" to instead refer to "intimate
partner battering and its effects."
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that in any criminal
action, expert testimony is admissible by either the
prosecution or the defense regarding intimate partner
battering and its effects, including the nature and effect
of physical, emotional or mental abuse on the beliefs,
perceptions, or behavior of victims of domestic violence,
except when offered against a criminal defendant to prove
the occurrence of the act or acts of abuse which form the
basis of the criminal charge (Evidence Code Section 1107).
CONTINUED
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This bill changes the reference to "battered woman
syndrome" to "intimate partner battering" in the following
statutes:
1.Penal Code Section 4801, which permits the Board of
Prison Terms to consider evidence that the defendant
suffered from battered woman syndrome at the time the
crime was committed.
2.Penal Code Section 5075.5, which requires training in the
battered woman syndrome for commissioners and deputy
commissioners who conduct hearings to consider the parole
suitability of prisoners or the setting of a parole date.
3.Penal Code Section 13823.93, which enumerates the
functions of a hospital-based training center that trains
medical personnel on medical evidentiary examinations for
child abuse or neglect, sexual assault, domestic
violence, elder abuse, and abuse or assault perpetrated
on persons with disabilities.
4.Family Code Section 3030, which prohibits a court from
granting custody of a child to a person convicted of
murder in the first degree and the victim of the murder
was the other parent of the child, unless the court
finds, on evidence including expert testimony on the
battered woman syndrome, that there is no risk to the
child's health and welfare.
5.Penal Code Section 340.3, which bars a civil action
against a person convicted of murder or attempted murder
and paroled based on evidence presented to the Board of
Prison Terms that the defendant was a victim of battered
woman's syndrome, or a person convicted of murder or
attempted murder in the second degree where substantial
evidence was presented at trial that the person committed
the crime because he or she was a victim of battered
woman's syndrome.
Prior Legislation was SB 1385 (Burton), Chapter 609,
Statutes of 2004 which passed the Senate on 8/17/04 (22-4).
SB 1385 changed the reference to "battered woman syndrome"
to "intimate partner battering and its effects" in Evidence
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Code Section 1107. Section 1107 allows expert testimony on
"battered woman's syndrome" in any criminal action.
This bill is a clean-up bill to SB 1385 and changes the
remaining references in the codes from "battered woman
syndrome" to "intimate partner battering and its effects."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/9/05)
Free Battered Women (source)
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
California Alliance Against Domestic Violence
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Commission on the Status of Women
California Public Defenders Association
Junior Leagues of California, State Public Affairs
Committee
Lambda Letters Project
Rocky Delgadillo, Los Angeles City Attorney
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
many researchers, advocates, and experts on domestic
violence have developed critiques about how the term
"Battered Women's Syndrome" is not helpful to survivors of
battering, including that it:
1.Pathologizes survivors of abuse.
2.Focuses on survivors' behaviors and psychological
responses, rather than on the batterer's abuse.
3.Assumes all survivors experience and respond to battering
in the same way.
4.Excludes same-sex battering and male victims of abuse.
5.Perpetuates harmful stereotypes about survivors as
passive and helpless.
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6.Can be confused with a mental defect/insanity defense,
which contradicts arguments that survivors of battering
react reasonably to the abuse.
7.Contributes to the myth of a separate "Battered Women's
Syndrome" defense.
A 1998 study by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence
Programs found that 57 percent of domestic abuse cases
reported in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego
involved gay men. Also, according to the Criminal Justice
Statistics Center of the Department of Justice, 20 percent
of Californians killed by domestic violence in 2002 were
heterosexual men.
Proponents state that by using the new term "intimate
partner battering" consistently throughout the codes,
public discourse will be shifted away from the outdated
language to more accurately reflect the results of the more
recent studies on domestic violence. "California has been
on the cutting edge regarding recognition and acceptance of
the impact of intimate partner battering on future conduct.
AB 220 continues to place California on the forefront by
acknowledging that a change of language can and will
improve our understanding of the terrible impact that
intimate partner battering perpetrates. AB 220 provides a
simple remedy to a significant issue." [Letter from Rocky
Delgadillo, Los Angeles City Attorney, dated May 19, 2005.]
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Aghazarian, Arambula, Baca, Bass, Berg, Bermudez,
Bogh, Calderon, Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cohn,
Coto, Daucher, De La Torre, DeVore, Dymally, Emmerson,
Evans, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg, Hancock, Harman, Jerome
Horton, Shirley Horton, Houston, Huff, Jones, Karnette,
Klehs, Koretz, Laird, Leno, Levine, Liu, Matthews,
Montanez, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nava, Negrete McLeod,
Niello, Oropeza, Parra, Pavley, Ruskin, Saldana, Salinas,
Spitzer, Strickland, Torrico, Tran, Vargas, Wolk, Yee,
Nunez
NOES: Blakeslee, Haynes, Keene, La Suer, Leslie, Maze,
McCarthy, Plescia, Sharon Runner, Villines, Walters,
Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Benoit, Cogdill, Gordon, La Malfa,
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Lieber, Mountjoy, Nation, Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Umberg
RJG:nl 6/9/05 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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