BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON Public Safety
Senator John Vasconcellos, Chair A
1999-2000 Regular Session B
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AB 1799 (Baugh) 9
As Amended March 6, 2000
Hearing date: June 13, 2000
Penal Code
MK:mc
INDEMNIFICATION: ERRONEOUSLY CONVICTED PERSONS
HISTORY
Source: Author
Prior Legislation: AB 110 (Baugh) - Chapter 619, Stats. 1999
Support: Unknown
Opposition:None known
Assembly Floor Vote: Ayes 77 - Noes 0
KEY ISSUE
SHOULD THE AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION A PERSON RECEIVES FOR WRONGFUL
INCARCERATION BE INCREASED FROM A MAXIMUM OF $10,000 TO A SUM
EQUIVALENT TO $100 PER DAY OF INCARCERATION?
SHOULD ANY AMOUNT RECEIVED BECAUSE OF WRONGFUL INCARCERATION BE
EXCLUDED FROM THE DEFINITION OF GROSS INCOME TAX FOR STATE INCOME
TAX PURPOSES?
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PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to increase the potential
compensation for wrongful incarceration after a person has been
found factually innocent from a maximum of $10,000 to a sum
equivalent to $100 per day of incarceration and to exclude the
amount received from the definition of gross income.
Existing law provides that any person who was convicted of a
felony and imprisoned in the state prison who is later pardoned
by the Governor because the crime was not committed or the
person was factually innocent of the crime may present a claim
against the State to the State Board of Control for pecuniary
injury sustained by him through such erroneous conviction and
imprisonment. (Penal Code 4900 et seq.)
Existing law provides that if the evidence shows that a crime
for which a claimant was convicted was either not committed at
all or, if committed, was not committed by the claimant, the
State Board of Control (BOC) shall report the facts of the case
and its recommendations to the Legislature for the purpose of
indemnifying the claimant for pecuniary injury sustained as the
result of the erroneous conviction and incarceration. (Penal
Code 4904.)
Existing law provides that the amount of the appropriation
recommended by the BOC shall not exceed in any case, $10,000.
(Penal Code 4904.)
Existing law excludes specific items from gross income tax
provisions. (Revenue and Taxation Code 17131 et seq.)
This bill provides that an appropriation made to a claimant who
has been erroneously convicted and imprisoned shall be a sum
equivalent to $100 per day of incarceration served subsequent to
the claimant's conviction.
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This bill provides that an appropriation shall not be treated as
gross income to the recipient under Revenue and Taxation Code.
COMMENTS
1. Need for the Bill
According to the author:
There are rare instances where imprisoned individuals
have been found factually innocent. Under existing law,
the restitution for wrongful imprisonment is limited to
$10,000. Last year, in connection with AB 110 (Baugh) -
Chapter 619, Statutes of 1999, and the Public Safety
Committee recommendations, I committed to make a
systemic change to this procedure. This bill would
remove the cap and would instead set the level of
recompense at $100 per day. The $100 figure is based on
the amount the California Department of Corrections
(CDC) presently compensates those individuals who are
held after their scheduled release date.
2. No Civil Suit Available
When there is not clear wrongdoing or misconduct by law
enforcement or the district attorney, there is no civil suit
available to a wrongly imprisoned person. In order to have a
valid civil suit a person would have to prove that the police
knew or should have known they were violating a constitutional
right of the person. Without the civil suit option, the only
compensation available to a person wrongfully imprisoned are
statutory amounts granted by the states.
3. Compensation in Other States
According to an American Bar Association Journal article:
Only 16 jurisdictions have statutes to compensate the
wrongfully imprisoned and only two of those-New York and
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West Virginia-do not limit damages. Some caps on
compensation, such as California's, are miserly. . . .
New Hampshire's cap is only $20,000. The federal system
is the stingiest of all, capping payments at $5,000.
Those with the highest limits are Maine with a $300,000
cap, and Ohio, which awards up to $25,000 for each year
in prison plus lost wages, attorney fees, fines and
court costs. (Higgins, Michael, "Tough Luck for the
Innocent Man" (March 1999) ABA Journal, at p.47.)
According to the article, many of the other states that do place
limits on the compensation provide for a yearly maximum that is
higher than California's total maximum of $10,000.
4. $100 a Day
On October 2, 1980, in Orange County, Kevin Lee Green was
wrongly convicted of the 1979 murder of his unborn daughter and
the rape of his former wife. Green was cleared four years ago
through DNA testing, which had not yet been developed at the
time of his conviction. This incident gave rise to AB 110 that
appropriated $620,000 from the General Fund to the Department of
Justice (DOJ) to recompense Green for his wrongful conviction
and incarceration. AB 110 used the rate of $100 per day of
incarceration in computing the total amount of the
appropriation. This bill makes the $100 rate per day the
standard to be used by the BOC in making recommendations to the
Legislature regarding appropriations in cases of persons wrongly
convicted.
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According to the Assembly Appropriations March 6, 2000 analysis,
"Discussions with the CDC, the Department of Justice, the Board
of Control and the California District Attorneys Association
indicate it is unlikely there will be many applicable cases.
With advances in forensic DNA procedures, however, the number of
cases may increase.
5. Appropriation Exempted From Gross Income
This bill makes any appropriation under this section exempt from
the gross income tax provisions of the Revenue and Taxation
Code.
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