BILL NUMBER: AB 2261	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Matthews

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2006

   An act to amend Section 7052 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to human remains.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2261, as introduced, Matthews  Human remains: sexual contact.
   Under existing law, every person who willfully mutilates,
disinters, removes from the place of interment, or commits an act of
sexual penetration on, or has sexual contact with, any remains known
to be human, without authority of law, is guilty of a felony. Under
existing law, the penalty for a person who commits first degree
murder in the commission or attempted commission of rape, is death or
imprisonment in the state prison for life without the possibility of
parole.
   This bill would provide that if sexual contact or penetration on
human remains is found to have occurred after the person killed the
victim, the punishment shall be imprisonment in the state prison for
life without the possibility of parole. Because the bill would create
a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
  The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 7052 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
   7052.  (a) Every person who willfully mutilates, disinters,
removes from the place of interment, or commits an act of sexual
penetration on, or has sexual contact with, any remains known to be
human, without authority of law, is guilty of a felony. This section
does not apply to any person who, under authority of law, removes the
remains for reinterment, or performs a cremation.
   (b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

   (1) "Sexual penetration" means the unlawful penetration of the
vagina or anus, however slight, by any part of a person's body or
other object, or any act of sexual contact between the sex organs of
a person and the mouth or anus of a dead body, or any oral copulation
of a dead human body for the purpose of sexual arousal,
gratification, or abuse.
   (2) "Sexual contact" means any willful touching by a person of an
intimate part of a dead human body for the purpose of sexual arousal,
gratification, or abuse.  
   (c) If the sexual contact or penetration is found to have occurred
after the person killed the victim, the punishment shall be
imprisonment in the state prison for life without the possibility of
parole. 
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.