Sponsored by:
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Requires victims of the criminally insane to be notified upon release, escape, or transfer of offender from mental health facility.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning victims and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act,
"Relative" means a person's spouse, domestic partner, partner in a civil union, parent, grandparent, stepfather, stepmother, child, grandchild, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, spouse's parent, or parent of the person's domestic partner or partner in a civil union.
"Victim" means a person who suffers personal injury or incurs loss of or injury to personal or real property as a result of conduct for which the actor is not criminally responsible pursuant to N.J.S.2C:4-1 or conduct for which the actor faced charges dismissed or held in abeyance pursuant to subsection c. of N.J.S.2C:4-6. The term "victim" includes the nearest relative of a person killed as a result of such conduct.
2. Unless the victim requests not to be notified, a victim of a person committed to the custody of the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to N.J.S.2C:4-6 or committed to a mental health facility pursuant to N.J.S.2C:4-8 shall be notified if:
a. the court receives an application to discharge or release the committed person;
b. the committed person is released or discharged;
c. the committed person escapes from a mental health facility;
d. the committed person is transferred to another mental health facility; or
e. the committed person is allowed an unsupervised community visit.
3. The victim of a person committed to the custody of the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to N.J.S.2C:4-6 or committed to a mental health facility pursuant to N.J.S.2C:4-8 shall be permitted to:
a. submit a written statement to the court prior to the court making a determination about release or discharge pursuant to N.J.S.2C:4-9;
b. appear and make a statement at a hearing held pursuant to subsection b. of N.J.S.2C:4-9; or
c. both.
4. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill would require notification of victims in cases where a defendant is acquitted by reason of insanity and in cases where a defendant is unfit to proceed on grounds that he is not mentally competent to stand trial. Specifically, the bill would provide notification, unless the victim requests to not be notified, if:
· the court receives an application to discharge or release the committed person;
· the committed person is released or discharged;
· the committed person escapes from a mental health facility;
· the committed person is transferred to another mental health facility; or
· the committed person is allowed an unsupervised community visit.
The bill would also allow victims to make a statement to the court or submit a written statement prior to the release of a person acquitted by reason of insanity or found unfit to proceed.
Under current law, victims of crime may make a statement prior to sentencing and are notified if the person convicted of the crime is released from custody. This bill would guarantee the same rights in cases where the person who commits the crime is acquitted by reason of insanity or is found unfit to proceed.