BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1412
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 2, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 1412 (Nielsen) - As Amended: June 23, 2014
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill applies incompetent to stand trial (IST) procedures to
persons who may be mentally incompetent and face revocation of
probation, mandatory supervision, post-release community
supervision (PRCS), or parole. Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides that only a court trial is required to determine
competency in any proceeding for a violation of probation,
mandatory supervision, PRCS, or parole.
2)Authorizes the court, as specified, to order any of the
following if the defendant is found mentally incompetent
during a PRCS or parole revocation hearing:
a) Order the defendant to undergo treatment for competency
restoration if the court determines there is a likelihood
the defendant may be restored to competency and returned to
court to face the revocation proceedings no later than 180
days from the date of his or her arrest.
b) Dismiss the pending revocation and return the defendant
to supervision, and modify the terms and conditions of
supervision to include appropriate mental health treatment,
or refer the matter to the public guardian of the county of
commitment to initiate conservatorship proceedings.
c) Refer the matter to any local mental health court,
reentry court, or other collaborative justice court
available for improving the defendant's mental health.
3)Repeals law held unconstitutional relative to misdemeanor-only
SB 1412
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provisions in IST cases.
4)Makes a series of conforming changes.
FISCAL EFFECT
This bill essentially applies the existing statutory framework
for determining and dealing with defendant competency to the
post-realignment world. As such, it is not likely this bill will
create additional cases and additional workload for the courts
and state and local mental health agencies. According to
representatives of the courts and district attorneys, in most
cases defense attorneys and prosecutors are operating under the
current statutory construct, albeit one that does not
specifically reference mandatory supervision and PRCS.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author and sponsor, the CA District Attorneys
Association (CDAA), seek to apply existing IST procedures to
the post-realignment constructs. As explained by the author
and CDAA, California law has long prohibited a person from
being tried or punished while that person is mentally
incompetent. The statutes governing competency to stand trial
apply not only to criminal trials, but also to probation
revocation hearings.
In the wake of realignment, however, two new classes of
supervision were created - mandatory supervision and
post-release community supervision (PRCS). PRCS effectively
replaced parole for persons who were sentenced to state prison
for non-violent, nonserious, and non-sexual crimes. Rather
than being supervised by a state parole agent upon release
from state prison, offenders are released on PRCS and
supervised by county probation departments. Unfortunately,
while the existing statutes apply to criminal trials and
probation revocation hearings, the law is silent with respect
to revocation hearings for offenders on PRCS and mandatory
supervision.
As a result, there is no statutory mechanism to assist these
offenders when a judge or attorney suspects the offender may
not be competent to understand the proceedings or assist their
attorney in a PRCS or mandatory supervision revocation
hearing.
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This bill applies the existing process for evaluating and
treating mentally incompetent defendants in criminal trials
and probation revocation hearings to PRCS and mandatory
supervision revocation hearings.
2)Current Law :
a) Prohibits a person from being tried or adjudged while
mentally incompetent.
b) Defines mental incompetency as an individual who, as a
result of mental disorder or developmental disability, is
unable to understand the criminal proceedings or assist
counsel in the conduct of a defense in a rational manner.
c) Provides if a defendant is found mentally incompetent,
the trial or judgment is suspended until the person becomes
mentally competent, and the defendant is committed to a
state hospital or other treatment facility, including a
jail, for treatment to regain competency in order to be
brought back to court to face the charges against him or
her.
d) Allows, until January 1, 2016 and upon the concurrence
of the county board of supervisors, the county mental
health director, and the county sheriff, a county jail to
be designated a treatment facility and to provide
medically-approved medicine to defendants found to be
mentally incompetent and unable to provide consent due to a
mental disorder, provided that the defendant's treatment
does not exceed six months, as specified.
3)There is no known opposition to this measure .
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081