BILL NUMBER: AB 1516	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 29, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 20, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Lieu

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act to amend Section 1054.3 of the Penal Code, relating to
criminal procedure.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1516, as amended, Lieu. Criminal procedure: discovery.
   Existing law provides that no discovery shall occur in criminal
cases except as provided by statute or as mandated by the
Constitution of the United States. Under existing law, a defendant
and his or her attorney are required to disclose to the prosecuting
attorney any reports or statements of experts made in connection with
the case, including the results of physical or mental examinations,
scientific tests, experiments, or comparisons which the defendant
intends to offer in evidence at the trial.
   This bill would require the court to order a defendant in a
criminal action or a minor in a juvenile delinquency proceeding to
submit to examination by a prosecution-retained mental health expert
whenever a defendant or minor, as specified, places in issue his or
her mental state at any phase of the criminal action or juvenile
proceeding through the proposed testimony of any mental health
expert.  The bill would require the prosecuting attorney to
submit a list of the tests he or she proposes to have a
prosecution-retained expert conduct on the defendant or minor and
would require the court, upon the request of the defendant or minor,
to hold a hearing to consider any objections to the proposed tests.
The bill would require the court to make a threshold determination
that the proposed tests bear some reasonable relation to the mental
state placed in issue by the defendant or minor.  The bill would
specify that its purpose is to respond to Verdin v. Superior Court
(2008) 43 Cal.4th 1096, as specified.
   This bill would amend Proposition 115, an initiative statute
adopted by the voters at the June 5, 1990, statewide primary
election, which provides that its provisions may be amended by the
Legislature by a 2/3 vote of the membership of each house.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated
local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 1054.3 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   1054.3.  (a) The defendant and his or her attorney shall disclose
to the prosecuting attorney:
   (1) The names and addresses of persons, other than the defendant,
he or she intends to call as witnesses at trial, together with any
relevant written or recorded statements of those persons, or reports
of the statements of those persons, including any reports or
statements of experts made in connection with the case, and including
the results of physical or mental examinations, scientific tests,
experiments, or comparisons which the defendant intends to offer in
evidence at the trial.
   (2) Any real evidence which the defendant intends to offer in
evidence at the trial.
   (b) (1) Unless otherwise specifically addressed by an existing
provision of law, whenever a defendant in a criminal action or a
minor in a juvenile proceeding brought pursuant to a petition
alleging the juvenile to be within Section 602 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code places in issue his or her mental state at any
phase of the criminal action or juvenile proceeding through the
proposed testimony of any mental health expert, upon timely request
by the prosecution, the court shall order that the defendant or
juvenile submit to examination by a prosecution-retained mental
health expert.  The 
    (A)     The  prosecution shall bear
the cost of any such mental health expert's fees for examination and
testimony at a criminal trial or juvenile court proceeding. 
   (B) The prosecuting attorney shall submit a list of tests proposed
to be administered by the prosecution expert to the defendant in a
criminal action or a minor in a juvenile proceeding. At the request
of the defendant in a criminal action or a minor in a juvenile
proceeding, a hearing shall be held to consider any objections raised
to the proposed tests before any test is administered. The trial
court shall make a threshold determination that the proposed tests
bear some reasonable relation to the mental state placed in issue by
the defendant in a criminal action or a minor in a juvenile
proceeding. For the purposes of this subdivision, the term "tests"
shall include any and all assessment techniques such as a clinical
interview or a mental status examination. 
   (2) The purpose of this subdivision is to respond to Verdin v.
Superior Court 43 Cal.4th 1096, which held that only the Legislature
may authorize a court to order the appointment of a prosecution
mental health expert when a defendant has placed his or her mental
state at issue in a criminal case or juvenile proceeding pursuant to
Section 602 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.  Other than
requiring the court to order testing by prosecution-retained mental
health experts in response to Verdin v. Superior Court, supra, it is
not the intent of the Legislature to disturb, in any way, the
remaining body of case law governing the procedural or substantive
law that controls the administration of these tests or the admission
of the results of these tests into evidence.