BILL NUMBER: SB 1281 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Blakeslee
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to amend Sections 1026 and 1027 of the Penal Code, relating
to criminal procedure.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1281, as introduced, Blakeslee. Criminal procedure: not guilty
by reason of insanity.
Under existing law, when a person accused of a crime is found to
be insane at the time he or she committed the crime, a court is
required to direct that the defendant be confined in a state hospital
for the care and treatment of the mentally disordered or another
public or private facility approved by the community program
director, or may order the defendant to be placed on outpatient
status.
This bill would require the medical director of a state hospital
or treatment facility in which the defendant has been confined as an
inpatient to monitor and evaluate the defendant to confirm that the
defendant satisfies the criteria of being not guilty by reason of
insanity. If the medical director of the facility finds that the
defendant does not meet the criteria, or that initial evaluations
failed to meet these criteria, then the medical director would be
required to submit a report to the court that directed the
confinement of the defendant. The court would be required to transmit
copies of the report to the prosecutor and defense counsel, and
would be authorized to convene a hearing to reconsider the question
of whether the defendant was sane or insane at the time of the
offense.
Under existing law, when a defendant pleads not guilty by reason
of insanity, the court is required to appoint at least 2
psychiatrists or licensed psychologists to examine, investigate, and
report on the defendant's mental status. The report is required to
include certain information, including the psychological history of
the defendant and the present psychological or psychiatric symptoms
of the defendant.
This bill would require the report to also include the defendant's
substance abuse history, his or her substance use history on the day
of the commission of the offense, and a review of the police report
of the offense.
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 1026 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
1026. (a) When a defendant pleads not guilty by reason of
insanity, and also joins with it another plea or pleas, the defendant
shall first be tried as if only such other plea or pleas had been
entered, and in that trial the defendant shall be conclusively
presumed to have been sane at the time the offense is alleged to have
been committed. If the jury shall find finds
the defendant guilty, or if the defendant pleads only not
guilty by reason of insanity, then the question whether the defendant
was sane or insane at the time the offense was committed shall be
promptly tried, either before the same jury or before a new jury in
the discretion of the court. In that trial, the jury shall return a
verdict either that the defendant was sane at the time the offense
was committed , or was insane at the time the offense was
committed. If the verdict or finding is that the defendant was sane
at the time the offense was committed, the court shall sentence the
defendant as provided by law. If the verdict or finding be
is that the defendant was insane at the time the
offense was committed, the court, unless it shall appear
appears to the court that the sanity of the
defendant has been recovered fully, shall direct that the defendant
be confined in a state hospital for the care and treatment of the
mentally disordered or any other appropriate public or private
treatment facility approved by the community program director, or the
court may order the defendant placed on outpatient status pursuant
to Title 15 (commencing with Section 1600) of Part 2
.
(b) Prior to making the order directing that the defendant be
confined in a state hospital or other treatment facility or placed on
outpatient status, the court shall order the community program
director or a designee to evaluate the defendant and to submit to the
court within 15 judicial days of the order a written recommendation
as to whether the defendant should be placed on outpatient status or
confined in a state hospital or other treatment facility. No person
shall be admitted to a state hospital or other treatment facility or
placed on outpatient status under this section without having been
evaluated by the community program director or a designee. If,
however, it appears to the court that the sanity of the defendant has
been recovered fully, the defendant shall be remanded to the custody
of the sheriff until the issue of sanity shall have been finally
determined in the manner prescribed by law. A defendant committed to
a state hospital or other treatment facility or placed on outpatient
status pursuant to Title 15 (commencing with Section 1600)
of Part 2 shall not be released from confinement, parole,
or outpatient status unless and until the court which committed the
person shall, after notice and hearing, find and determine that the
person's sanity has been restored. Nothing in this section shall
prevent the transfer of the patient from one state hospital to any
other state hospital by proper authority. Nothing in this section
shall prevent the transfer of the patient to a hospital in another
state in the manner provided in Section 4119 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code.
(c) If the defendant is committed or transferred to a state
hospital pursuant to this section, the court may, upon receiving the
written recommendation of the medical director of the state hospital
and the community program director that the defendant be transferred
to a public or private treatment facility approved by the community
program director, order the defendant transferred to that facility.
If the defendant is committed or transferred to a public or private
treatment facility approved by the community program director, the
court may, upon receiving the written recommendation of the community
program director, order the defendant transferred to a state
hospital or to another public or private treatment facility approved
by the community program director. Where either the defendant or the
prosecuting attorney chooses to contest either kind of order of
transfer, a petition may be filed in the court requesting a hearing
which shall be held if the court determines that sufficient grounds
exist. At that hearing, the prosecuting attorney or the defendant may
present evidence bearing on the order of transfer. The court shall
use the same procedures and standards of proof as used in conducting
probation revocation hearings pursuant to Section 1203.2.
(d) Prior to making an order for transfer under this section, the
court shall notify the defendant, the attorney of record for the
defendant, the prosecuting attorney, and the community program
director or a designee.
(e) When the court, after considering the placement recommendation
of the community program director required in subdivision (b),
orders that the defendant be confined in a state hospital or other
public or private treatment facility, the court shall provide copies
of the following documents which shall be taken with the defendant to
the state hospital or other treatment facility where the defendant
is to be confined:
(1) The commitment order, including a specification of the
charges.
(2) A computation or statement setting forth the maximum term of
commitment in accordance with Section 1026.5.
(3) A computation or statement setting forth the amount of credit
for time served, if any, to be deducted from the maximum term of
commitment.
(4) State Summary Criminal History information.
(5) Any arrest reports prepared by the police department or other
law enforcement agency.
(6) Any court-ordered psychiatric examination or evaluation
reports.
(7) The community program director's placement recommendation
report.
(f) If the defendant is confined in a state hospital or other
treatment facility as an inpatient, the medical director of the
facility shall monitor and evaluate the defendant for 30 days to
confirm that the defendant satisfies the criteria in subdivision (b)
of Section 25. If the medical director of the facility finds, based
on clear and compelling new evidence, that the defendant does not
meet the criteria of subdivision (b) of Section 25, or that the
initial evaluations of the defendant failed to meet the criteria of
subdivision (b) of Section 1027, then the medical director shall
issue a report stating the finding, including the clear and
compelling evidence that supports the finding. The report shall be
submitted to the superior court from which the commitment was made,
and the court shall transmit copies of the report to the prosecutor
and defense counsel. The court, based on the report, may, but is not
required to, convene a hearing to reconsider whether the defendant
was sane or insane at the time of the offense. If the court finds
that the defendant was sane at the time of the offense, the defendant
shall be remanded to the custody of the sheriff until the issue of
sanity is finally determined in the manner prescribed by law.
(f)
(g) If the defendant is confined in a state hospital or
other treatment facility as an inpatient, the medical director of
the facility shall, at six-month intervals, submit a report in
writing to the court and the community program director of the county
of commitment, or a designee, setting forth the status and progress
of the defendant. The court shall transmit copies of these reports to
the prosecutor and defense counsel.
(g)
(h) When directing that the defendant be confined in a
state hospital pursuant to subdivision (a), the court shall select
the state hospital in accordance with the policies established by the
State Department of Mental Health.
(h)
(i) For purposes of this section and Sections 1026.1 to
1026.6, inclusive, "community program director" means the person,
agency, or entity designated by the State Department of Mental Health
pursuant to Section 1605 of this code and Section 5709.8 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code.
SEC. 2. Section 1027 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
1027. (a) When a defendant pleads not guilty by reason of
insanity the court must shall select
and appoint two, and may select and appoint three, psychiatrists, or
licensed psychologists who have a doctoral degree in psychology and
at least five years of postgraduate experience in the diagnosis and
treatment of emotional and mental disorders, to examine the defendant
and investigate his or her mental status. It is the duty
of the psychiatrists or psychologists so selected
and appointed to make the examination and investigation, and to
testify, whenever summoned, in any proceeding in which the sanity of
the defendant is in question. The psychiatrists or psychologists
so appointed by the court shall be allowed, in
addition to their actual traveling expenses, such fees as in the
discretion of the court seems just and reasonable, having regard to
the services rendered by the witnesses. The fees allowed shall be
paid by the county where the indictment was found or in which the
defendant was held for trial.
(b) Any report on the examination and investigation made pursuant
to subdivision (a) shall include, but not be limited to, the
psychological history of the defendant, the facts surrounding the
commission of the acts forming the basis for the present charge used
by the psychiatrist or psychologist in making his or her
examination of the defendant, and the present
psychological or psychiatric symptoms of the defendant, if any ,
the substance abuse history of the defendant, the substance use
history of the defendant on the day of the offense, and a review of
the police report for the offense .
(c) This section does not presume that a psychiatrist or
psychologist can determine whether a defendant was sane or insane at
the time of the alleged offense. This section does not limit a court'
s discretion to admit or exclude, pursuant to the Evidence Code,
psychiatric or psychological evidence about the defendant's state of
mind or mental or emotional condition at the time of the alleged
offense.
(d) Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed or construed
to prevent any party to any criminal action from producing any other
expert evidence with respect to the mental status of the defendant
; where . If expert witnesses are
called by the district attorney in such the
action, they shall only be entitled to such witness fees as may
be allowed by the court.
(e) Any psychiatrist or psychologist so
appointed by the court may be called by either party to the action or
by the court itself , and
when so called shall be subject to all legal objections as
to competency and bias and as to qualifications as an expert. When
called by the court , or by either party
, to the action, the court may examine the psychiatrist
, or psychologist , as deemed
necessary, but either party shall have the same right to object to
the questions asked by the court and the evidence adduced as though
the psychiatrist or psychologist were a witness for the adverse
party. When the psychiatrist or psychologist is called and examined
by the court , the parties may cross-examine him or
her in the order directed by the court. When called by either
party to the action , the adverse party may examine him
or her the same as in the case of any other witness called
by such the party.