BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
1331 (Cedillo)
Hearing Date: 05/27/2010 Amended: 04/14/2010
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Public Safety
5-2
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 1331 provides that no person shall be condemned
to death or executed pursuant to any judgment that was sought or
obtained on the basis of race. This bill provides that a finding
that race was the basis of a decision to seek or impose the
death sentence may be established if the court finds, either in
a pretrial motion or post-conviction proceeding, that race was a
significant factor in the decision to seek or impose the death
penalty in the county or state at the time the death sentence
was sought or imposed. This bill provides that the court shall
have a hearing on any claim and the defendant shall have the
burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that race
was a significant factor in the decision to seek or impose the
death penalty, as specified. If the court finds that race was a
significant factor in the decision, the court shall either order
that the death penalty not be sought if the finding is made
before trial, or that the death sentence imposed be vacated and
the defendant sentenced to life imprisonment without the
possibility of parole (LWOP) if the finding was made
post-conviction. The provisions of this bill apply
retroactively. For persons under a death sentence imposed before
January 1, 2011, motions must be filed with the Supreme Court on
or before December 31, 2013.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Court hearings/judgments
Retroactive provision $100 $250
$250 General*
Prospective motions Likely minor additional
costs, annually General*
Inmate transportation Likely
minor additional costs General
*Trial Courts Trust Fund
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.
This bill would establish a procedure for challenging a death
sentence on the basis that race played a significant factor in
the decision to seek or impose the death penalty on the
defendant in a criminal proceeding. This bill would allow a
defendant in a case in which the death penalty is being sought,
to file a pre-trial motion or post-conviction claim that his or
her death sentence is being sought (if pre-trial) or imposed (if
post-conviction) on the basis of race, or if race was a
significant factor in the decision. The bill specified that the
court shall hold a hearing to accept the submission of evidence
from both sides, and enumerates (but does not limit) examples of
types of evidence that the parties may present, including
statistical evidence on frequency of death penalty imposition
upon persons of one race.
Page 2
SB 1331 (Cedillo)
Prospectively, the provisions of this bill would be functionally
realized as part of the defendant's initial trial - either in
pretrial or post-conviction. Thus, it is difficult to determine
a specific cost to this bill, since it is unclear how much time
and work will be added to what may already be a lengthy trial.
There will likely be multiple pre-trial motions, and this could
be one of several; the residual cost could be minimal. A
post-conviction proceeding, however, would be more costly; it is
impossible to know when these motions would be filed.
Furthermore, there are typically only 25-30 death penalty cases
statewide each year. So, the court costs and attorneys' workload
would be spread across many cases and courtrooms.
The most substantial cost to this bill is incurred by applying
its provisions retroactively. Under this bill, each of the 636
inmates currently serving death penalty sentences would be
allowed to file specified petitions, and must do so by December
31, 2013. The provisions of this bill apply to every condemned
inmate, regardless of race. Since there is no disincentive
whatsoever, under this bill, to filing a petition to have one's
death sentence overturned on the basis of this new category of
appeal, it is reasonable to assume that a number of eligible
inmates will do so. The Judicial Council estimates that the
approximate California Supreme Court cost per inmate for these
retroactive filings would be $2,700 per petition. If 25% of
death row inmates were to file claims, the court costs would be
approximately $429,300. The exact costs would be determined by
the number of claims filed and the time it takes the Court to
make its rulings.
The potential fiscal impact on CDCR is difficult to determine.
The retroactive provision of this bill will likely result in
increased transportation and security costs to CDCR, to the
extent that petitioning inmates will appear in Court. CDCR's
baseline budget already takes into account inmate
transportation, however, and thousands of inmates are
transported each year for a multitude of purposes. It is
impossible to determine if incarceration costs or savings would
be realized by successful petitions filed under the provisions
of this bill. It is generally less expensive to house inmates in
the general population than on death row. Overturning an
inmate's death sentence, however, changes the sentence to LWOP,
and CDCR will still be responsible for housing the inmate for
the rest of his or her life.