BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1872
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 21, 2006
Chief Counsel: Gregory Pagan
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Mark Leno, Chair
AB 1872 (Cohn) - As Amended: March 15, 2005
As Proposed to be Amended in Committee
SUMMARY : Provides that any person who personally inflicts
great bodily injury (GBI) upon a pregnant woman shall be
punished by an additional and consecutive five years in the
state prison. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that any person who personally inflicts GBI upon a
pregnant woman shall be punished by an additional and
consecutive five years in the state prison.
2)Deletes the requirement that a person who personally inflicts
GBI upon a pregnant woman intend to inflict injury.
3)Deletes the requirement that GBI inflicted upon a pregnant
woman be without the consent of the victim.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that any person who during the commission, or
attempted commission, of a felony knows, or reasonably should
know, that the victim is pregnant and who, with the intent to
inflict injury and without consent of the woman, personally
inflicts GBI upon a pregnant woman which results in the
termination of that pregnancy shall be punished by an
additional and consecutive five years in the state prison.
(Penal Code Section 12022.9.)
2)Provides that any person who personally inflicts GBI on any
person other than an accomplice in the commission or attempted
commission of a felony shall be punished by an additional and
consecutive three years in the state prison. [(Penal Code
Section 12022.7(a).]
3)Provides that any person who personally inflicts GBI on a
person 70 years of age or older shall, in addition and
AB 1872
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consecutive to the punishment for the felony which he or she
has been convicted of, be punished by an additional five years
in state prison. [Penal Code Section 12022.7(c).]
4)Provides that any person who personally inflicts GBI on a
child under the age of five years shall, in addition and
consecutive to the punishment for the felony which he or she
has been convicted of, be punished by an additional four,
five, or six years in state prison. [Penal Code Section
12022.7(d).]
5)Provides that any person who inflicts GBI under circumstances
involving domestic violence in the commission or attempted
commission of a felony shall be punished by an additional and
consecutive term of three, four, or five years in the state
prison. [Penal Code Section 12022.7(e).]
6)Provides that any person who inflicts GBI on any person in the
commission or attempted commission of a rape, spousal rape,
rape in concert, lewd and lascivious acts on a child under the
age of 14, forcible sexual penetration, forcible oral
copulation, or forcible sodomy shall receive an additional
five years in the state prison. (Penal Coder Section
12022.8.)
7)Provides that any person who personally inflicts GBI on any
person in the commission or attempted commission of a felony
which causes a person to become comatose due to a brain injury
or to suffer paralysis of a permanent nature shall be punished
by an additional and consecutive five-year term in the state
prison. [Penal Code Section 12022.7(b).]
8)Prohibits the granting of probation to any person who
personally inflicts GBI on any person 60 years of age or older
or a blind or disabled person in the commission of a specified
felony. [Penal Code Section 1203.09(a).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author "Domestic abuse
against pregnant women has immediate and lasting effects women
and their pregnancies. In addition, homicide is the second
leading cause of traumatic death for pregnant and post-partum
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women in the United States. Each year, 324,000 pregnant women
in this country are battered by their intimate partners.
"Current law only allows for a five-year enhancement if the
abuse causes a termination of the pregnancy. Given the
massive amount of violence committed against pregnant women
and the impact on the women and their pregnancies additional
punishment should not be meted out any time GBI is inflicted
on a pregnant woman regardless of whether or not it causes
termination of the pregnancy. This bill creates a five-year
sentence enhancement for any person that inflicts GBI upon a
pregnant woman."
2)Specific Intent : Under existing law, any person with the
intent to inflict injury and inflicts injury upon a pregnant
woman which causes the termination of that pregnancy is
subject to a five-year enhancement. This is the only injury
enhancement which requires that the perpetrator intend to
inflict injury, allowing a perpetrator who inflicts injury to
claim that he or she did not mean to inflict injury or that
the injury was an accident. This bill deletes the intent
requirement from the existing enhancement for inflicting
injury upon a pregnant woman. Also, this bill deletes the
requirement that the injury be inflicted without the consent
of the woman. This element appears to be pointless as it is
difficult to imagine a scenario where a pregnant woman would
consent to being assaulted.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Correctional Supervisors Organization
California Narcotics Officers Association
Opposition
American Civil Liberties Union
California Public Defenders Association
Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744