BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 765
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 13, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                  AB 765 (Achadjian) - As Amended:  March 23, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              Public 
          SafetyVote:  7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill expands the definition of rape by fraud to include 
          submission of the victim to sexual intercourse under the belief, 
          induced by pretense, that the perpetrator is a "cohabitant." 
          (Current law refers only to a spouse.)

           FISCAL EFFECT

           Unknown, likely minor if any, annual GF costs for increased 
          state prison commitments. No one was committed to state prison 
          in 2009 or 2010 for this offense. 

           COMMENTS

          1)Rationale.  The author contends the statute should be updated 
            to apply to cohabitants as well as spouses. 

            The author also cites a Santa Barbara case in which a male 
            entered a residence during the night and had intercourse with 
            the female occupant. The victim believed the suspect was her 
            cohabitant boyfriend. Although she was awake during the 
            encounter, the victim did not immediately realize he was not 
            her boyfriend. When the victim realized he was not her 
            boyfriend she resisted and he fled.

            Although the perpetrator was arrested, the D.A. could not 
            prosecute for felony rape, since the victim and her boyfriend 
            lived together but were not married. The D.A. charged 
            misdemeanor sexual battery and trespass, and the case was 
            settled when the defendant pled guilty to these lesser 
            charges.








                                                                  AB 765
                                                                  Page  2


           2)Current law  states rape by fraud is committed when a person 
            submits to sexual intercourse under the belief that the person 
            committing the act is the victim's spouse, and this belief is 
            induced by any artifice, pretense, or concealment practiced by 
            the accused, with intent to induce the belief.  

           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081