Bill Text: CA SB260 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Youth offender parole hearings.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)

Status: (Passed) 2013-09-16 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 312, Statutes of 2013. [SB260 Detail]

Download: California-2013-SB260-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 260	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 24, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 4, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 18, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hancock
   (Coauthors: Senators De León and Steinberg)

                        FEBRUARY 13, 2013

   An act to add Section 1170.195 to the Penal Code, relating to
sentencing.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 260, as amended, Hancock. Sentencing.
   Existing law provides that the Secretary of the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation or the Board of Parole Hearings, or
both, may, for specified reasons, recommend to the court that a
prisoner's sentence be recalled, and that a court may recall a
prisoner's sentence. When a defendant who was under 18 years of age
at the time of the commission of a crime has served at least 15 years
of his or her sentence, existing law allows the defendant to submit
a petition for recall and resentencing, and authorizes the court, in
its discretion, to recall the sentence and to resentence the
defendant, provided that the new sentence is not greater than the
initial sentence.
   This bill would state legislative intent regarding the following
provisions, and would, except as specified, require a sentencing
court to hold a hearing to review the sentence of a person who was
under 18 years of age at the time of an offense and was prosecuted as
an adult after the person has served 10 years in prison. After the
review, the bill would allow the judge to suspend or stay all or a
portion of the sentence, reduce the sentence to any sentence that
could lawfully have been ordered at the time of the original
judgment, or both reduce and suspend or stay all or a portion of the
sentence. The bill would authorize the court to consider specified
evidence, in conjunction with any other evidence the court deems
relevant, in making this determination. The bill would  also
permit additional review only in the event of a change in
circumstances that is proven by a preponderance of the evidence in a
petition filed with the sentencing court   permit each
person granted review whose sentence is not suspended, stayed, or
  reduced, to file a petition 3 or more years after any
review hearing, and would require the review hearing to be granted if
the petition demonstrates a change in the circumstances, as
specified, by a preponderance of the evidence . The bill would
not apply to a person sentenced under specified provisions or
sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
   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.  It is the intent of the Legislature to provide a
judicial mechanism for reconsidering the sentences of adults who have
served a significant amount of time in state prison for the
conviction of crimes they committed as children.
  SEC. 2.  Section 1170.195 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
   1170.195.  (a) Notwithstanding any other law, upon motion and
after 60 days' notice to the prosecution, the sentencing court shall
hold a hearing to review the sentence of a person who was under 18
years of age at the time of the offense and was prosecuted as an
adult, after the person has served 10 years in prison.
   (b) After reviewing the sentence, the judge may suspend or stay
all or a portion of the sentence, reduce the sentence to any sentence
that could lawfully have been ordered at the time of the original
judgment, or both reduce and suspend or stay all or a portion of the
sentence, provided that the person at the time of the hearing meets
the eligibility criteria of the alternative disposition.
   (c) For purposes of this determination, the court may consider, in
conjunction with any other evidence the court deems relevant, the
person's record of serious disciplinary violations, whether the
person has performed acts that tend to indicate rehabilitation or the
capacity for rehabilitation, including, but not limited to, availing
himself or herself of any rehabilitative, educational, or vocational
programs available at his or her classification level and facility,
the person's use of self-study for self-improvement, the person's
statement describing his or her remorse and work towards
rehabilitation, the person's youth at the time of the crime,
including his or her immaturity, impulsiveness, failure to appreciate
risks and consequences, family and home environment, intellectual
functioning, mental disorder, or disabilities, the circumstances of
the offense, including the extent of participation in the offense and
the way familial and peer pressures may have affected him or her,
and whether the person might have been charged and convicted of a
lesser offense if not for the lesser abilities of youth, including,
but not limited to, an inability to effectively deal with police
officers or prosecutors, or a limited capacity to fully understand
the proceedings or to assist his or her attorney.
   (d) The court shall identify on the record the criteria relied on,
and shall provide a statement of reasons for adopting those
criteria. The court shall state why the defendant does or does not
satisfy the criteria.
   (e) Victims, or victim family members if the victim is deceased,
shall be notified of the resentencing hearing and shall retain their
rights to participate in the hearing.
   (f) Each person granted review pursuant to this section 
shall only be entitled to an additional review in the event of
  whose sentence is not suspended, stayed, or reduced,
may file a petition with the sentencing court three or more years
after any review hearing. A review hearing on any subsequent petition
shall be granted if the petition demonstrates, by a preponderance of
the evidence,  a change in  the  circumstances
 that is proven by a preponderance of the evidence in a
petition filed with the sentencing court   specified in
subdivision (c)  .
   (g) This section does not apply to a person who was sentenced
pursuant to Section 190.4 or 190.5, subdivisions (b) to (i),
inclusive, of Section 667, or Section 1170.12, or to life
imprisonment without the possibility of parole.