BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1160|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1160
Author: Lieber (D), et al
Amended: 8/22/06 in Senate
Vote: 27
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 4-2, 6/27/06
AYES: Migden, Cedillo, Perata, Romero
NOES: Poochigian, Margett
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-5, 8/7/06
AYES: Murray, Alarcon, Alquist, Escutia, Florez, Ortiz,
Romero, Torlakson
NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn, Battin, Dutton, Poochigian
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 45-32, 1/26/06 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Crime
SOURCE : Equality California
DIGEST : This bill enacts the Gwen Araujo Justice for
Victims Act. The bill makes legislative findings about
panic strategies, creates an additional jury instruction
regarding bias and appropriates money for training
prosecutors regarding "panic strategies."
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/22/06 appropriates the
$125,000 to the Office of Emergency Services rather than
the Attorney General.
CONTINUED
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ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that it is unlawful to,
by force or threat of force, willfully injure, intimidate,
interfere with, oppress, or threaten any other person in
the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege
secured to him or her by the Constitution or laws of the
United States in whole or in part because of actual or
perceived characteristics of the victim relating to
disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity,
religion, sexual orientation or association with a person
or group with one or more of these actual or perceived
characteristics.
This bill enacts the Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act.
This bill makes various legislative findings regarding
existing California law in relation to hate crimes.
This bill makes legislative findings that:
1."It is against public policy for juries to render
decisions tainted by bias based upon the victim's actual
or perceived disability, gender, nationality, race or
ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation, or his or her
association with a person or group with one or more of
these characteristics."
2."'Panic strategies' are those strategies that try to
explain a defendant's actions or emotional reactions
based upon the knowledge or discovery of the fact that
the victim possesses one or more of the characteristics
listed above or associates with a person or group with
one or more of these characteristics."
3."The Legislature is concerned about the use of societal
bias in criminal proceedings and the susceptibility of
juries to such bias. The use of so-called 'panic
strategies' by defendants in criminal trials opens the
door for bias against victims based on one or more of the
characteristics listed above or an association with a
person or group with one or more of those
characteristics."
4."It is against public policy for a defendant to be
acquitted of a charged offense based upon an appeal to
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the societal bias that may be possessed by members of a
jury."
This bill provides that in any criminal trial or
proceeding, upon the request of a party, the court shall
instruct the jury as follows:
Do not let bias, sympathy, prejudice, or public
opinion influence your decision. Bias includes bias
against the victim or victims, witnesses or
defendants, based upon his or her disability, gender,
nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, gender
identity, or sexual orientation.
This bill provides that $125,000 is appropriated from the
General Fund to the Office of Emergency Services. The
executive director of the Office of Emergency Services is
authorized to allocate and award these funds to public
agencies or private nonprofit organizations for the purpose
of establishing statewide programs of education, training,
and practice materials for District Attorneys' offices.
The training materials will explain how panic strategies
are used to encourage jurors to respond to societal bias
against people based on actual or perceived disability,
gender (including gender identity), nationality, race, or
ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation, and provide
best practices for preventing bias from affecting the
outcome of a trial. Agencies or organizations that are
awarded the funds shall consult with community
organizations and county officials that are knowledgeable
about the use of bias-related strategies in criminal
trials.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/22/06)
Equality California (source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
Bienestar Human Service, Inc.
California Commission on the Status of Women
California State Controller Steve Westly
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California Teachers Association
Capitol Resource Institute
City of West Hollywood
Congregation Sh'ar Zahav
Lambda Letters Project
Service Employees International Union, Local 1000
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author office,
"The murder of Gwen Araujo in Newark, CA, has focused
national attention on the increasing use of the 'panic
strategy' by defendants in murder trials. In 2004, the
criminal trial of the three men accused of attacking Ms.
Araujo ended in a mistrial, following several weeks of
defense attorneys asserting that the defendants "panicked"
upon learning that Ms. Araujo was transgender. Their
arguments, largely based on stereotypes about transgender
women, were framed to play on societal bias against
transgender people. If successful, this panic strategy
could have resulted in a conviction for the lesser charge
of voluntary manslaughter, rather than first or second
degree murder as sought by the prosecution.
"Experts estimate that nationally, similar panic strategies
have been used in over 45 cases, often with success. Last
year, a Kentucky man successfully won a lighter sentence
after arguing that his murderous rage was justified because
the male victim allegedly made a sexual advance on him. A
similar case in Georgia, spurred the Fulton County District
Attorney (Atlanta) to convene a three-day conference in
February of 2005 on the subject to help train prosecutors
on defeating the strategy. Recently, a Fresno man who
stabbed a transgender person a reported 20 times was
sentenced to only 4 years in prison after agreeing to plead
guilty to the crime. Newspaper reports quoted a Fresno
District Attorney as saying that the difficulty of facing
panic strategies was one reason for offering the plea.
"This bill will help ensure that defendants do not play
upon bias in attempting to win acquittal or to seek a
lesser charge. The bill will improve the existing
California jury instruction to clarify that bias on the
basis of a person's gender, sexual orientation or other
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protected characteristics has no place in the jury's
decision making."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Baca, Berg, Bermudez, Calderon, Chan, Chavez, Chu,
Cohn, Coto, De La Torre, Dymally, Evans, Frommer,
Goldberg, Hancock, Jerome Horton, Jones, Karnette, Klehs,
Koretz, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Liu, Matthews,
Montanez, Mullin, Nation, Nava, Negrete McLeod, Oropeza,
Parra, Pavley, Ridley-Thomas, Ruskin, Saldana, Salinas,
Torrico, Umberg, Vargas, Wolk, Yee, Nunez
NOES: Aghazarian, Benoit, Blakeslee, Bogh, Cogdill,
Daucher, DeVore, Emmerson, Garcia, Harman, Haynes,
Shirley Horton, Houston, Huff, Keene, La Malfa, La Suer,
Leslie, Maze, McCarthy, Mountjoy, Nakanishi, Niello,
Plescia, Richman, Sharon Runner, Spitzer, Strickland,
Tran, Villines, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Arambula, Bass, Canciamilla
RJG:nl 8/22/06 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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