Bill Text: CA AB487 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Parole hearings: notification of district attorneys.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Vetoed) 2016-01-15 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB487 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB487-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 487	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 30, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 16, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gonzalez
    (   Coauthor:   Senator   Anderson
  ) 

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2015

   An act to amend Section 3041.5 of the Penal Code, relating to
parole.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 487, as amended, Gonzalez. Parole hearings: notification of
district attorneys.
   Existing law provides that, one year prior to the minimum eligible
parole release date of an inmate serving an indeterminate sentence,
a panel of 2 or more commissioners or deputy commissioners of the
Board of Parole Hearings shall meet with the inmate and set a parole
release date, as specified. Existing law, as amended by Proposition
9, the Victim's Bill of Rights Act of 2008: Marsy's Law, at the
November 4, 2008, statewide general election, establishes procedures
at all hearings for the purpose of reviewing a prisoner's parole
suitability, or the setting, postponing, or rescinding of parole
dates, and provides prisoners and victims specified rights at these
hearings.
   This bill would require notification of the district attorney of
the county in which the offense was committed, or his or her
designee, to receive notification of specified parole 
proceedings and would require, if notice is not provided, any action
on a hearing advancement to be postponed until notice is properly
made.   proceedings. 
   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 3041.5 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   3041.5.  (a) At all hearings for the purpose of reviewing a
prisoner's parole suitability, or the setting, postponing, or
rescinding of parole dates, with the exception of en banc review of
tie votes, the following shall apply:
   (1) At least 10 days prior to any hearing by the Board of Parole
Hearings, the prisoner shall be permitted to review his or her file
which will be examined by the board and shall have the opportunity to
enter a written response to any material contained in the file.
   (2) The prisoner shall be permitted to be present, to ask and
answer questions, and to speak on his or her own behalf. Neither the
prisoner nor the attorney for the prisoner shall be entitled to ask
questions of  any   a  person appearing at
the hearing pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 3043.
   (3) Unless legal counsel is required by  some other
provision of   another  law, a person designated by
the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall be present to
ensure that all facts relevant to the decision are presented,
including, if necessary, contradictory assertions as to matters of
fact that have not been resolved by departmental or other procedures.

   (4) The prisoner and  any   a  person
described in subdivision (b) of Section 3043 shall be permitted to
request and receive a stenographic record of all proceedings.
   (5) If the hearing is for the purpose of postponing or rescinding
of parole dates, the prisoner shall have rights set forth in
paragraphs (3) and (4) of subdivision (c) of Section 2932.
   (6) The board shall set a date to reconsider whether an inmate
should be released on parole that ensures a meaningful consideration
of whether the inmate is suitable for release on parole.
   (b) (1) Within 10 days following  any   a
 meeting where a parole date has been set, the board shall send
the prisoner a written statement setting forth his or her parole
date, the conditions he or she must meet in order to be released on
the date set, and the consequences of failure to meet those
conditions.
   (2) Within 20 days following  any   a 
meeting where a parole date has not been set, the board shall send
the prisoner a written statement setting forth the reason or reasons
for refusal to set a parole date, and suggest activities in which he
or she might participate that will benefit him or her while he or she
is incarcerated.
   (3) The board shall schedule the next hearing, after considering
the views and interests of the victim, as follows:
   (A) Fifteen years after  any   a 
hearing at which parole is denied, unless the board finds by clear
and convincing evidence that the criteria relevant to the setting of
parole release dates enumerated in subdivision (a) of Section 3041
are such that consideration of the public and victim's safety does
not require a more lengthy period of incarceration for the prisoner
than 10 additional years.
   (B) Ten years after  any   a  hearing at
which parole is denied, unless the board finds by clear and
convincing evidence that the criteria relevant to the setting of
parole release dates enumerated in subdivision (a) of Section 3041
are such that consideration of the public and victim's safety does
not require a more lengthy period of incarceration for the prisoner
than seven additional years.
   (C) Three years, five years, or seven years after  any
  a  hearing at which parole is denied, because the
criteria relevant to the setting of parole release dates enumerated
in subdivision (a) of Section 3041 are such that consideration of the
public and victim's safety requires a more lengthy period of
incarceration for the prisoner, but does not require a more lengthy
period of incarceration for the prisoner than seven additional years.

   (4) The board  may   may,  in its
discretion, after considering the views and interests of the victim
and the district attorney of the county in which the offense was
committed, advance a hearing set pursuant to paragraph (3) to an
earlier date, when a change in circumstances or new information
establishes a reasonable likelihood that consideration of the public
and victim's safety does not require the additional period of
incarceration of the prisoner provided for  in paragraph
(3).
   (5) Within 10 days of  any   a  board
action resulting in the postponement of a previously set parole date,
the board shall send the prisoner a written statement setting forth
a new date and the reason or reasons for that action and shall offer
the prisoner an opportunity for review of that action.
   (6) Within 10 days of  any   a  board
action resulting in the rescinding of a previously set parole date,
the board shall send the prisoner a written statement setting forth
the reason or reasons for that action, and shall schedule the
prisoner's next hearing in accordance with paragraph (3).
   (c) The board shall conduct a parole hearing pursuant to this
section as a de novo hearing. Findings made and conclusions reached
in a prior parole hearing shall be considered in, but shall not be
deemed to be binding upon, subsequent parole hearings for an inmate,
but shall be subject to reconsideration based upon changed facts and
circumstances. When conducting a hearing, the board shall admit the
prior recorded or memorialized testimony or statement of a victim or
witness, upon request of the victim or if the victim or witness has
died or become unavailable. At each hearing the board shall determine
the appropriate action to be taken based on the criteria set forth
in subdivision (b) of Section 3041.
   (d) (1) An inmate may request that the board exercise its
discretion to advance a hearing set pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subdivision (b) to an earlier date, by submitting a written request
to the board, which shall set forth the change in circumstances or
new information that establishes a reasonable likelihood that
consideration of the public safety does not require the additional
period of incarceration of the inmate. The board shall provide notice
of the request to the district attorney and the victim, if the
victim has previously requested notification of all board actions, no
less than 30 days before the board may grant the inmate's request.
Notice shall be satisfied by mailing copies of the inmate's request
to the office of the district attorney and, if applicable, to the
last address provided by the victim to the Office of Victim and
Survivor Rights and Services.
   (2) The board shall have sole jurisdiction, after considering the
views and interests of the district attorney of the county in which
the offense was committed, or his or her representative, and the
victim to determine whether to grant or deny a written request made
pursuant to paragraph (1), and its decision shall be subject to
review by a court or magistrate only for a manifest abuse of
discretion by the board. The board shall have the power to summarily
deny a request that does not comply with the provisions of this
subdivision or that does not set forth a change in circumstances or
new information as required in paragraph (1) that in the judgment of
the board is sufficient to justify the action described in paragraph
(4) of subdivision (b).
   (3) An inmate may make only one written request as provided in
paragraph (1) during each three-year period. Following either a
summary denial of a request made pursuant to paragraph (1), or the
decision of the board after a hearing described in subdivision (a) to
not set a parole date, the inmate shall not be entitled to submit
another request for a hearing pursuant to subdivision (a) until a
three-year period of time has elapsed from the summary denial or
decision of the board. 
   (4) Failure to provide notification as required in paragraph (1)
shall postpone any action being taken on the hearing advancement
until the notice is properly made.