BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 65
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 10, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                 AB 65 (Achadjian) - As Amended:  February 25, 2013 

          Policy Committee:                              Public  
          SafetyVote:  7-0

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

           SUMMARY  

          This bill expands the definition of rape, or felonious oral  
          copulation, sodomy, or sexual penetration, to include situations  
          in which the perpetrator fraudulently induces the victim to  
          believe he or she is someone other than the perpetrator - not  
          just the victim's spouse. 

           FISCAL EFFECT

           Unknown, likely minor if any, annual GF costs for increased  
          state prison commitments. No one was committed to state prison  
          in in the past few years under the current statutes, and there  
          is little reason to anticipate more than an occasional  
          commitment under the proposed expansion.   

           COMMENTS

          1)Rationale.  Under current law, rape by fraud or impersonation  
            can only be committed where the perpetrator holds him or  
            herself out to be the spouse of the victim. This provision  
            also applies to specified crimes involving unlawful oral  
            copulation, sodomy, or sexual penetration by a foreign object.  
            As a result, there is a discrepancy in current law with  
            respect to the protection of an unmarried victim who has an  
            intimate relationship with another person.   
             
             The author contends the statute should be updated so as not to  
            limit the impersonation to spouses.

           2)Supporters  , including the District Attorneys Association, cite  
            two recent cases: 








                                                                  AB 65
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            A Santa Barbara County 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.
             
            The Second District Court of Appeals overturned a rape  
            conviction just weeks ago in the case of People v. Morales  
            (2013) in which the court urged the Legislature to "correct  
            the incongruity that exists when a man may commit rape by  
            having intercourse with a woman when impersonating a husband,  
            but not when impersonating a boyfriend."
           3)There is no known opposition  .

           4)Similar Legislation  . SB 59 (Evans) provides that rape, sodomy,  
            oral copulation, or sexual penetration by fraud occurs where  
            the individual submits under the belief that the individual  
            committing the act is the victim's sexual partner. SB 59 is  
            pending in Senate Appropriations. 
                
            5)Prior Legislation  :  AB 765 (Achadjian), 2012, expanded the  
            definition of rape by fraud to include submission of the  
            victim to sexual intercourse under the belief the perpetrator  
            was a cohabitant.  AB 765, which passed this committee  
            unanimously, was held in the Senate Public Safety Committee.


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