BILL NUMBER: AB 1799	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MARCH 6, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Baugh

                        JANUARY 27, 2000

   An act to amend Section 4904 of the Penal Code, relating to
indemnification.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1799, as amended, Baugh.  Indemnification:  erroneously
convicted persons.
   Existing law requires the State Board of Control to report to the
Legislature the facts of a case involving a claimant who has
sustained pecuniary injury as a result of having been convicted of a
crime for which the claimant was found to be innocent if, in
addition, the claimant did not contribute to his or her arrest or
conviction.  The board is also required to include in its report to
the Legislature, its recommendation that an appropriation be made to
indemnify the claimant for the pecuniary injury, but the amount of
the appropriation  recommended  is limited to $10,000.
   This bill would remove the $10,000 limitation on the appropriation
 recommended  and would instead  limit 
 make  the  recommended  appropriation 
equivalent  to the sum of $100 per day of incarceration served
subsequent to the claimant's conviction.  The bill would also provide
that the appropriation not be treated as gross income to the
recipient under California law.
   Vote:  majority.  Appropriation:  no.  Fiscal committee:  yes.
State-mandated local program:  no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 4904 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   4904.  If the evidence shows that the crime with which the
claimant was charged was either not committed at all, or, if
committed, was not committed by the claimant, and that the claimant
did not, by any act or omission either intentionally or negligently,
contribute to the bringing about of his or her arrest or conviction,
and that the claimant has sustained pecuniary injury through his or
her erroneous conviction and imprisonment, the State Board of Control
shall report the facts of the case and its conclusions to the next
Legislature of this state, with a recommendation that an
appropriation be made by the Legislature for the purpose of
indemnifying the claimant for the pecuniary injury; but the amount of
the appropriation so recommended shall  not exceed in any
case,   be  a sum equivalent to one hundred dollars
($100) per day of incarceration served subsequent to the claimant's
conviction and that appropriation shall not be treated as gross
income to the recipient under the provisions of the Revenue and
Taxation Code.