California Government Code 13956 v2 – Notwithstanding Section 13955, a person shall not be eligible for …
Notwithstanding Section 13955, a person shall not be eligible for compensation under the following conditions:
(a) An application may be denied, in whole or in part, if the board finds that denial is appropriate because of the nature of the victim‘s or other applicant’s involvement in the events leading to the crime, or the involvement of the person whose injury or death gives rise to the application.
Terms Used In California Government Code 13956 v2
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- Allegation: something that someone says happened.
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Board: means the California Victim Compensation Board. See California Government Code 13951
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Crime: includes an act of terrorism, as defined in Section 2331 of Title 18 of the United States Code, committed against a resident of the state, whether or not the act occurs within the state. See California Government Code 13951
- Derivative victim: means an individual who sustains pecuniary loss as a result of injury or death to a victim. See California Government Code 13951
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Law enforcement: means every district attorney, municipal police department, sheriff's department, district attorney's office, county probation department, and social services agency, the Department of Justice, the Department of Corrections, the Department of the Youth Authority, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the police department of any campus of the University of California, California State University, or community college, and every agency of the State of California expressly authorized by statute to investigate or prosecute law violators. See California Government Code 13951
- Person: includes any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, limited liability company, business trust, corporation, or company. See California Government Code 17
- Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
- State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Government Code 18
- Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which the term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Government Code 10
- Victim: means an individual who sustains injury or death as a direct result of a crime as specified in subdivision (e) of Section 13955. See California Government Code 13951
- Victim advocate: work with prosecutors and assist the victims of a crime.
(1) Factors that may be considered in determining whether the victim or derivative victim was involved in the events leading to the qualifying crime include, but are not limited to:
(A) The victim or derivative victim initiated the qualifying crime, or provoked or aggravated the suspect into initiating the qualifying crime.
(B) The qualifying crime was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the conduct of the victim or derivative victim.
(C) The victim or derivative victim was committing a crime that could be charged as a felony and reasonably lead to the victim being victimized. However, committing a crime shall not be considered involvement if the victim’s injury or death occurred as a direct result of a crime committed in violation of Section 261, 273.5, or former Section 262 of, or for a crime of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor in violation of subdivision (d) of Section 261.5 of, the Penal Code.
(2) If the victim is determined to have been involved in the events leading to the qualifying crime, factors that may be considered to mitigate or overcome involvement include, but are not limited to:
(A) The victim’s injuries were significantly more serious than reasonably could have been expected based on the victim’s level of involvement.
(B) A third party interfered in a manner not reasonably foreseeable by the victim or derivative victim.
(C) The board shall consider the victim’s age, physical condition, and psychological state, as well as any compelling health and safety concerns, in determining whether the application should be denied pursuant to this section. The application of a derivative victim of domestic violence under 18 years of age or derivative victim of trafficking under 18 years of age shall not be denied on the basis of the denial of the victim’s application under this subdivision.
(b) (1) An application shall be denied if the board finds that the victim or, if compensation is sought by, or on behalf of, a derivative victim, either the victim or derivative victim failed to cooperate reasonably with a law enforcement agency in the apprehension and conviction of a criminal committing the crime. In determining whether cooperation has been reasonable, the board shall consider the victim’s or derivative victim’s age, physical condition, and psychological state, cultural or linguistic barriers, any compelling health and safety concerns, including, but not limited to, a reasonable fear of retaliation or harm that would jeopardize the well-being of the victim or the victim’s family or the derivative victim or the derivative victim’s family, and giving due consideration to the degree of cooperation of which the victim or derivative victim is capable in light of the presence of any of these factors. A victim shall not be determined to have failed to cooperate based on the victim’s conduct with law enforcement at the scene of the crime. Lack of cooperation shall also not be found solely because a victim delayed reporting the qualifying crime.
(2) An application for a claim based on domestic violence shall not be denied solely because a police report was not made by the victim. The board shall adopt guidelines that allow the board to consider and approve applications for assistance based on domestic violence relying upon evidence other than a police report to establish that a domestic violence crime has occurred. Factors evidencing that a domestic violence crime has occurred may include, but are not limited to, medical records documenting injuries consistent with allegations of domestic violence, mental health records, or that the victim has obtained a permanent restraining order.
(3) An application for a claim based on a sexual assault shall not be denied solely because a police report was not made by the victim. The board shall adopt guidelines that allow it to consider and approve applications for assistance based on a sexual assault relying upon evidence other than a police report to establish that a sexual assault crime has occurred. Factors evidencing that a sexual assault crime has occurred may include, but are not limited to, medical records documenting injuries consistent with allegations of sexual assault, mental health records, or that the victim received a sexual assault examination.
(4) An application for a claim based on human trafficking as defined in § 236.1 of the Penal Code shall not be denied solely because a police report was not made by the victim. The board shall adopt guidelines that allow the board to consider and approve applications for assistance based on human trafficking relying upon evidence other than a police report to establish that a human trafficking crime has occurred. That evidence may include any reliable corroborating information approved by the board, including, but not limited to, the following:
(A) A Law Enforcement Agency Endorsement issued pursuant to § 236.5 of the Penal Code.
(B) A human trafficking caseworker, as identified in § 1038.2 of the Evidence Code, has attested by affidavit that the individual was a victim of human trafficking.
(5) (A) An application for a claim by a military personnel victim based on a sexual assault by another military personnel shall not be denied solely because it was not reported to a superior officer or law enforcement at the time of the crime.
(B) Factors that the board shall consider for purposes of determining if a claim qualifies for compensation include, but are not limited to, the evidence of the following:
(i) Restricted or unrestricted reports to a military victim advocate, sexual assault response coordinator, chaplain, attorney, or other military personnel.
(ii) Medical or physical evidence consistent with sexual assault.
(iii) A written or oral report from military law enforcement or a civilian law enforcement agency concluding that a sexual assault crime was committed against the victim.
(iv) A letter or other written statement from a sexual assault counselor, as defined in § 1035.2 of the Evidence Code, licensed therapist, or mental health counselor, stating that the victim is seeking services related to the allegation of sexual assault.
(v) A credible witness to whom the victim disclosed the details that a sexual assault crime occurred.
(vi) A restraining order from a military or civilian court against the perpetrator of the sexual assault.
(vii) Other behavior by the victim consistent with sexual assault.
(C) For purposes of this subdivision, the sexual assault at issue shall have occurred during military service, including deployment.
(D) For purposes of this subdivision, the sexual assault may have been committed off base.
(E) For purposes of this subdivision, a “perpetrator” means an individual who is any of the following at the time of the sexual assault:
(i) An active duty military personnel from the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard.
(ii) A civilian employee of any military branch specified in clause (i), military base, or military deployment.
(iii) A contractor or agent of a private military or private security company.
(iv) A member of the California National Guard.
(F) For purposes of this subdivision, “sexual assault” means an offense included in Section 261, 264.1, 286, 287, formerly 288a, or § 289 of the Penal Code, as of January 1, 2015.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding Section 13955, a person who is convicted of a violent felony listed in subdivision (c) of § 667.5 of the Penal Code shall not be granted compensation until that person has been released from a correctional institution. Compensation shall not be granted to an applicant pursuant to this chapter during any period of time the applicant is held in a correctional institution or while an applicant is required to register as a sex offender pursuant to § 290 of the Penal Code.
(2) A person who has been convicted of a violent felony listed in subdivision (c) of § 667.5 of the Penal Code may apply for compensation pursuant to this chapter at any time, but the award of that compensation may not be considered until the applicant meets the requirements for compensation set forth in paragraph (1).
(d) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2024, only if General Fund moneys over the multiyear forecasts beginning in the 2024-25 fiscal year are available to support ongoing augmentations and actions, and if an appropriation is made to backfill the Restitution Fund to support the actions in this section.
(Repealed (in Sec. 2) and added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 771, Sec. 3. (AB 160) Effective September 29, 2022. Conditionally operative July 1, 2024, as prescribed by its own provisions.)