BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2075
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 2075 (Cohn)
As Amended June 29, 2006
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |72-0 |(April 6, 2006) |SENATE: |37-0 |(August 10, |
| | | | | |2006) |
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|ASSEMBLY: |74-0 |(August 14, | | | |
| | |2006) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Specifies that provisions proscribing child abuse and
crimes of domestic violence may be joined in the same accusatory
pleading under separate counts.
The Senate amendments :
1)Clarify, at the discretion of the court, in the interest of
justice and for good cause shown, violations of domestic
violence or child abuse may be tried separately or divided
into two or more groups and tried separately.
2)Delete a declaration that crimes of child abuse and domestic
violence are the same class of crimes or offenses.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States that an accusatory pleading may charge two or more
different offenses connected together in their commission, or
different statements of the same offense or two or more
different offenses of the same class of crimes or offenses,
under separate counts; if two or more accusatory pleadings are
filed in such cases in the same court, the court may order
them to be consolidated. The prosecution is not required to
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elect between the different offenses or counts set forth in
the accusatory pleading, but the defendant may be convicted of
any number of the offenses charged; and, each offense of which
the defendant is convicted must be stated in the verdict or
the finding of the court, provided that the court in which a
case is triable, in the interests of justice and for good
cause shown, may in its discretion order that the different
offenses or counts set forth in the accusatory pleading be
tried separately or divided into two or more groups and each
of said groups tried separately. An acquittal of one or more
counts shall not be deemed an acquittal of any other count.
2)Provides that in cases in which two or more different offenses
of the same class of crimes or offenses have been charged
together in the same accusatory pleading, or where two or more
accusatory pleadings charging offenses of the same class of
crimes or offenses have been consolidated, evidence concerning
one offense or offenses need not be admissible as to the other
offense or offenses before the jointly charged offenses may be
tried together before the same trier of fact.
3)Defines "domestic violence" as abuse perpetrated against any
of the following persons:
a) A spouse or former spouse;
b) A cohabitant or former cohabitant as defined in current
law;
c) A person with whom the respondent is having, or has had,
a dating or engagement relationship;
A person with whom the respondent has had a child where the
presumption applies that the male parent is the father of
the child of the female parent under current law;
d) A child of a party or a child who is the subject of an
action under the Uniform Parentage Act, where the
presumption applies that the male parent is the father of
the child to be protected; or,
e) Any other person related by consanguinity or affinity
within the second degree.
4)States that any person who, under circumstances or conditions
likely to produce great bodily harm or death, willfully causes
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or permits any child to suffer; inflicts thereon unjustifiable
physical pain or mental suffering; or having the care or
custody of any child, willfully causes or permits the person
or health of that child to be injured, or willfully causes or
permits that child to be placed in a situation where his or
her person or health is endangered, shall be punished by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in the
state prison for two, four, or six years.
5)States that any person who, under circumstances or conditions
other than those likely to produce great bodily harm or death,
willfully causes or permits any child to suffer; or inflicts
thereon unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering; or
having the care or custody of any child, willfully causes or
permits the person or health of that child to be injured, or
willfully causes or permits that child to be placed in a
situation where his or her person or health may be endangered,
is guilty of a misdemeanor.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Specified that offenses related to the physical abuse of a
child and domestic violence are all of the same class of
crimes or offenses and may be charged in the same accusatory
pleading under separate counts.
2)Allowed a court to consolidate cases if two or more accusatory
pleadings are filed in the same court alleging crimes of
domestic violence, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Current law allows for
consolidation in one court two or more different offenses that
are connected in their commission. Allowing the court the
discretion of consolidating these cases in the same manner as
allowed in Penal Code 954 will provide benefits to the victims
and the accused. A victim will not have to relive his or her
tragedy repeatedly by having to testify in multiple trials and
the defendant will not be subjected to the possibility of a
district attorney seeking multiple trials to achieve a desired
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outcome. In a violent home, violence does not discriminate by
age and frequently it is perpetrated against both the mother and
children. The correlation between child abuse and domestic
violence is a strong one."
Please see the policy committee analysis for full discussion of
this bill.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
Current law already allows domestic violence and child
abuse cases to be joined under certain circumstances.
This bill would list a number of crimes, such as
battery and child endangerment, and explicitly state
that they can be joined. While this bill is well
intended, the language is flawed and actually narrows
the ability of prosecutors to join other domestic
violence and child abuse cases that are not
specifically listed. Enactment of this bill could, in
turn, reduce the ability of our justice system to
appropriately charge individuals that have committed
multiple crimes against their spouse and children.
Instead of limiting discretion of local prosecutors we
should instead seek to expand their ability to charge
criminals in a manner that best protects our families
and children.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Horiuchi / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0018028