Bill Text: CA AB593 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Domestic violence: battering: recall and resentencing.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2012-09-30 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 803, Statutes of 2012. [AB593 Detail]

Download: California-2011-AB593-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 593	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 31, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ma

                        FEBRUARY 16, 2011

   An act to amend Section  1109 of the Evidence 
 1473.5 of the Penal  Code, relating to domestic violence.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 593, as amended, Ma. Domestic violence:  evidence.
  battering: writ of habeas corpus.  
   Existing law, operative until January 1, 2020, establishes
circumstances under which a writ of habeas corpus may be prosecuted
for certain violent felonies on the basis of expert testimony
regarding intimate partner battering that was not received in
evidence at trial and may be sufficient to undermine confidence in
the conviction, as specified.  
   This bill would delete the repeal clause for those provisions and
thus extend the operation of those provisions indefinitely. 

   Under existing law, evidence of a person's character or a trait of
his or her character is generally inadmissible when offered to prove
his or her conduct on a specified occasion. Existing law provides,
however, that when a defendant is accused of domestic violence in a
criminal action, evidence of the defendant's prior acts of domestic
violence may be admissible under specified circumstances. 

   This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to these
provisions. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

   SECTION 1.    Section 1473.5 of the   Penal
Code   is amended to read: 
   1473.5.  (a) A writ of habeas corpus also may be prosecuted on the
basis that expert testimony relating to intimate partner battering
and its effects, within the meaning of Section 1107 of the Evidence
Code, was not received in evidence at the trial court proceedings
relating to the prisoner's incarceration, and is of such substance
that, had it been received in evidence, there is a reasonable
probability, sufficient to undermine confidence in the judgment of
conviction, that the result of the proceedings would have been
different. Sections 1260 to 1262, inclusive, apply to the prosecution
of a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to this section. As used in this
section, "trial court proceedings" means those court proceedings
that occur from the time the accusatory pleading is filed until and
including judgment and sentence.
   (b) This section is limited to violent felonies as specified in
subdivision (c) of Section 667.5 that were committed before August
29, 1996, and that resulted in judgments of conviction after a plea
or trial as to which expert testimony admissible pursuant to Section
1107 of the Evidence Code may be probative on the issue of
culpability.
   (c) If a petitioner for habeas corpus under this section has
previously filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, it is grounds
for denial of the new petition if a court determined on the merits in
the prior petition that the omission of expert testimony relating to
battered women's syndrome or intimate partner battering and its
effects at trial was not prejudicial and did not entitle the
petitioner to the writ of habeas corpus.
   (d) For purposes of this section, the changes that become
effective on January 1, 2005, are not intended to expand the uses or
applicability of expert testimony on battering and its effects that
were in effect immediately prior to that date in criminal cases.

   (e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends
that date.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 1109 of the Evidence Code is
amended to read:
   1109.  (a) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (e) or (f), in a
criminal action in which the defendant is accused of an offense
involving domestic violence, evidence of the defendant's commission
of other domestic violence is not made inadmissible by Section 1101
if the evidence is not inadmissible pursuant to Section 352.
   (2) Except as provided in subdivision (e) or (f), in a criminal
action in which the defendant is accused of an offense involving
abuse of an elder or dependent person, evidence of the defendant's
commission of other abuse of an elder or dependent person is not made
inadmissible by Section 1101 if the evidence is not inadmissible
pursuant to Section 352.
   (3) Except as provided in subdivision (e) or (f) and subject to a
hearing conducted pursuant to Section 352, which shall include
consideration of any corroboration and remoteness in time, in a
criminal action in which the defendant is accused of an offense
involving child abuse, evidence of the defendant's commission of
child abuse is not made inadmissible by Section 1101 if the evidence
is not inadmissible pursuant to Section 352. Nothing in this
paragraph prohibits or limits the admission of evidence pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 1101.
   (b) In an action in which evidence is to be offered under this
section, the people shall disclose the evidence to the defendant,
including statements of witnesses or a summary of the substance of
any testimony that is expected to be offered, in compliance with the
provisions of Section 1054.7 of the Penal Code.
   (c) This section shall not be construed to limit or preclude the
admission or consideration of evidence under any other statute or
case law.
   (d) As used in this section:
   (1) "Abuse of an elder or dependent person" means physical or
sexual abuse, neglect, financial abuse, abandonment, isolation,
abduction, or other treatment that results in physical harm, pain, or
mental suffering, the deprivation of care by a caregiver, or other
deprivation by a custodian or provider of goods or services that are
necessary to avoid physical harm or mental suffering.
   (2) "Child abuse" means an act proscribed by Section 273d of the
Penal Code.
   (3) "Domestic violence" has the meaning set forth in Section 13700
of the Penal Code. Subject to a hearing conducted pursuant to
Section 352, which shall include consideration of any corroboration
and remoteness in time, "domestic violence" has the further meaning
set forth in Section 6211 of the Family Code, if the act occurred no
more than five years before the charged offense.
   (e) Evidence of acts occurring more than 10 years before the
charged offense is inadmissible under this section, unless the court
determines that the admission of this evidence is in the interest of
justice.
   (f) Evidence of the findings and determinations of administrative
agencies regulating the conduct of health facilities licensed under
Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code is inadmissible under this
section.