Bill Text: CA SB1018 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Death penalty: lethal injection protocol.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-05-27 - Held in committee and under submission. [SB1018 Detail]

Download: California-2009-SB1018-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 1018	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 23, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Harman

                        FEBRUARY 10, 2010

   An act to amend  , repeal, and add  Section 3604 of the
Penal Code, relating to the death penalty.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1018, as amended, Harman. Death penalty:  sodium
thiopental.   lethal injection protocol. 
   Existing law provides that a person sentenced to death shall have
the opportunity to elect to have the punishment imposed by lethal gas
or by  a   an intravenous  lethal
injection of a nonspecified substance  or substances  by
standards established under the direction of the Department of
Corrections  and Rehabilitation  . If no election is made,
the penalty of death shall be imposed by lethal injection.
   This bill would specify that  , on or after   January
1, 2013,  the substance to be used for the lethal injection
shall be  sodium thiopental   an
ultra-short-acting barbiturate or other similar drug, not to be used
in combination with a chemical paralytic. The bill would require the
department to develop and implement a lethal injection protocol for
this drug to be available for use on and after January 1, 2013. The
bill would delete the requirement that the lethal injection be
intravenous  .
   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 3604 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   3604.  (a)  The punishment of death shall be inflicted by the
administration of a lethal gas or by an  intravenous
 injection of  sodium thiopental   a
substance or substances  in a lethal quantity sufficient to
cause death, by standards established under the direction of the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
   (b)  Persons sentenced to death prior to or after the operative
date of this subdivision shall have the opportunity to elect to have
the punishment imposed by lethal gas or lethal injection. This choice
shall be made in writing and shall be submitted to the warden
pursuant to regulations established by the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation. If a person under sentence of death does not
choose either lethal gas or lethal injection within 10 days after the
warden's service upon the inmate of an execution warrant issued
following the operative date of this subdivision, the penalty of
death shall be imposed by lethal injection.
   (c)  Where the person sentenced to death is not executed on the
date set for execution and a new execution date is subsequently set,
the inmate again shall have the opportunity to elect to have
punishment imposed by lethal gas or lethal injection, according to
the procedures set forth in subdivision (b).
   (d)  Notwithstanding subdivision (b), if either manner of
execution described in subdivision (a) is held invalid, the
punishment of death shall be imposed by the alternative means
specified in subdivision (a). 
   (e) The department shall develop and implement a lethal injection
protocol for use on and after January 1, 2013, that utilizes the
injection of a lethal quantity of an ultra-short-acting barbiturate
or other similar drug, not to be used in combination with a chemical
paralytic, in a quantity sufficient to cause death according to
standards established under the direction of the department. This
requirement shall not affect the validity of any existing lethal
injection protocol.  
   (f) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2013, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2013, deletes or extends
that date. 
   SEC. 2.   Section 3604 is added to the  
Penal Code   , to read:  
   3604.  (a) The punishment of death shall be inflicted by the
administration of a lethal gas or by an injection of a lethal
quantity of an ultra-short-acting barbiturate or other similar drug,
not to be used in combination with a chemical paralytic, in a
quantity sufficient to cause death according to standards established
under the direction of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation.
   (b) Persons sentenced to death prior to or after the operative
date of this subdivision shall have the opportunity to elect to have
the punishment imposed by lethal gas or lethal injection. This choice
shall be made in writing and shall be submitted to the warden
pursuant to regulations established by the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation. If a person under sentence of death does not
choose either lethal gas or lethal injection within 10 days after the
warden's service upon the inmate of an execution warrant issued
following the operative date of this subdivision, the penalty of
death shall be imposed by lethal injection.
   (c) Where the person sentenced to death is not executed on the
date set for execution and a new execution date is subsequently set,
the inmate again shall have the opportunity to elect to have
punishment imposed by lethal gas or lethal injection, according to
the procedures set forth in subdivision (b).
   (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), if any manner of execution
described in subdivision (a) is held invalid, the punishment of death
shall be imposed by any of the alternative means specified in
subdivision (a).
   (e) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2013.