ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
Purpose:
Makes substantive and clarifying changes to existing statutes related to various criminal justice issues.
Background:
An array of criminal justice issues are dealt with in this proposed legislation including classification of date rape drugs and related violations, sexual exploitation of minors and psychological evaluations in death penalty cases. Furthermore, changes regarding community supervision terms and the stalking statute are in response to recent Court of Appeals decisions. Several other issues address concerns of law enforcement, prosecutors and various court jurisdictions.
The fiscal impact of H.B. 2223 on the state general fund is unknown.
Law Enforcement Affidavits
1. Allows a prosecutor, if the prosecutor charges a criminal offense by complaint, to attach an affidavit of a law enforcement officer that swears to the accuracy of the complaint rather than requiring the officer to swear to the accuracy of the complaint before a magistrate.
2. Defines complaint.
3. Requires the State to appoint a licensed psychologist in death penalty cases to conduct a prescreening evaluation to determine whether further examination is needed to determine the defendant’s competency to stand trial and whether the defendant was sane at the time of the offense. Allows the court to appoint separate experts to conduct each of the evaluations.
4. Stipulates that, if the prescreening evaluation indicates that further examination is necessary, the court shall treat the prescreening evaluation as a preliminary examination pursuant to the rules of criminal procedure.
5. Expands the definition of regulated chemical to include gamma butyrolactone and variations of gamma butyrolactone, which are precursors to gamma hydroxy butyrate (GHB).
6. Stipulates that a person convicted of administering flunitrazepam, GHB or ketamine hydrochloride to a minor is subject to mandatory sentencing.
7. Defines minor in the sexual exploitation statute as a person or persons who were under 18 years of age at the time the visual depiction was created, adapted or modified.
8. Clarifies that only one minor engaged in exploitive exhibition or other sexual conduct or is necessary to prove sexual exploitation of a minor.
9. Clarifies sentencing provisions for the crime of luring a minor for sexual exploitation.
10. Prohibits the juvenile court from consolidating a delinquency proceeding with any other proceeding that does not involve delinquency, unless the delinquency proceeding is not heard at the same time or in the same hearing as the nondelinquency proceeding.
11. Requires that, when a court calculates a term of community supervision, the court shall decrease a sentence to the nearest month when the term involves a fraction of a month.
12. Removes the requirement that bond on appeal for misdemeanor cases shall not exceed the maximum fine that could be imposed, plus any applicable surcharges and assessments.
13. Requires a superior court to transmit the name, date of birth, social security number and date of commitment to the Department of Public Safety (DPS) when persons are involuntarily committed to a mental health institution and are considered a danger to themselves or others as a result of a mental disorder.
14. Contains a delayed effective date of September 1, 2002 relating to the requirement that the superior court transmit information regarding committed persons to DPS
15. Expands the definition of victim under the victim’s rights statute to include immediate family if the person against whom a criminal offense has been committed is killed or incapacitated.
16. Adds sexually violent persons to the list of offenders for which a mental health facility must notify the victim if the offender is released or discharged or escapes.
Miscellaneous
17. Creates a clearer distinction between class 3 felony stalking and class 5 felony stalking.
18. Repeals a dually enacted section of law relating to domestic violence and blends many provisions.
19. Contains technical and conforming changes.
20. Provides for a general effective date for most sections.
Adds all provisions of the bill except those related to law enforcement affidavits. These provisions are contained in the underlying bill.
House Action: Senate Action
JUD 3/6/01 DPA 7-3-0 JUD 4/10/01 DPA 6-0-2
3rd Read 3/13/01 33-24-3
Prepared by Senate Staff
April 11, 2001