CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1540

Introduced by Assembly Member Ting

February 19, 2021

An act to amend Section 1170.127 of the Penal Code, relating to criminal procedure.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1540, as introduced, Ting. Criminal procedure: sentencing.
Under existing law, if a defendant charged with a criminal offense is found not guilty by reason of insanity, and the defendant’s sanity has not been restored, the court is required to order the defendant to be committed to the State Department of State Hospitals for the care and treatment of persons with mental health disorders until the person’s sanity has been restored or until the expiration of the maximum term of commitment, as specified.
Under existing law, if the person’s sentence would have been an indeterminate term of life imprisonment under the former three strikes law, that person may petition the court to have their maximum term of commitment to the state hospital reduced, as specified.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NO   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 1170.127 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

1170.127.
 (a) A person who is committed to a state hospital after being found not guilty by reason of insanity pursuant to Section 1026 may petition the court to have his or her their maximum term of commitment, as established by Section 1026.5, reduced to the length it would have been had Section 1170.126 been in effect at the time of the original determination. Both of the following conditions are required for the maximum term of commitment to be reduced:
(1) The person would have met all of the criteria for a reduction in sentence pursuant to Section 1170.126 had he or she if the person had been found guilty.
(2) The person files the petition for a reduction of the maximum term of commitment before January 1, 2021, or on a later date upon a showing of good cause.
(b) If a petitioner’s maximum term of confinement is ordered reduced under this section, the new term of confinement must provide opportunity to meet requirements provided in subdivision (b) of Section 1026.5. If a petitioner’s new maximum term of confinement ordered under this section does not provide sufficient time to meet requirements provided in subdivision (b) of Section 1026.5, the new maximum term of confinement may be extended, not more than 240 days from the date the petition is granted, in order to meet requirements provided in subdivision (b) of Section 1026.5.