BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1412
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1412 (Nielsen)
As Amended June 23, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :34-0
PUBLIC SAFETY 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Melendez, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Jones-Sawyer, Quirk, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Skinner, Stones, Waldron | |Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| | | |Holden, Jones, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Lowenthal |
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SUMMARY : Applies procedures relative to persons who are
incompetent to stand trial (IST) to persons who may be mentally
incompetent and face revocation of probation, mandatory
supervision, postrelease 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)Allows the court, except 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, as authorized,
for restoring the defendant to competency if the court
determines that there is a reasonable likelihood that 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 matter and return the
defendant to supervision, and either of the following:
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i) Modify the terms and conditions of supervision to
include appropriate mental health treatment; or,
ii) Refer the matter to the public guardian of the
county of commitment to initiate conservatorship
proceedings; or,
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
provisions in IST cases.
4)Makes conforming changes to apply procedures relative to
persons who are IST to persons who may be mentally incompetent
and face revocation of probation, mandatory supervision, PRCS,
or parole.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, 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 : According to the author, "For decades, California law
has 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, two new classes of
supervision were created - mandatory supervision and
post-release community supervision (PRCS). Mandatory
supervision is the portion of a local prison sentence
served in the community under the supervision of a
probation officer. Every day served on mandatory
supervision is deducted from the original prison term.
PRCS effectively replaced parole for persons who were
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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, they are released on PRCS and supervised by
county probation departments. Unfortunately, while
the existing statutes apply to criminal trials and
probation revocation hearings, they are silent with
respect to revocation hearings for offenders on PRCS
and mandatory [supervision]. When these two classes
of supervision were created in AB 109 [(Budget
Committee), Chapter 15, Statutes of 2011] there were
no corresponding changes made to the laws governing
competence.
As a result, there is no lawful 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. SB 1412
takes the existing process for evaluating and treating
mentally incompetent defendants in criminal trials and
probation revocation hearings, and creates a similar
process for use in PRCS and mandatory supervision
revocation hearings.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Shaun Naidu / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
FN: 0004331