House Committee on Judiciary (05/01/2012)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Date:	05/01/2012	ATTENDANCE

Time:	03:20 PM to 04:55 PM	DelGrosso	*
		Duran	X
Place:	HCR 0107	Kagan	*
		Lee	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Nikkel	X
	Representative Gardner B.	Pabon	X
		Ryden	X
This Report was prepared by		Sonnenberg	X
	Jessika Shipley	Waller	X
		Barker	E
		Gardner B.	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
Presentation from the CDAC SB12-116 SB12-175		Committee Discussion Only Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole

03:21 PM -- Presentation from the Colorado District Attorneys' Council

Tom Raynes, executive director of the Colorado District Attorneys' Council (CDAC), discussed the salaries of elected district attorneys in Colorado pursuant to Section 20-1-301 (1) (c), C.R.S., directing the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to review district attorney compensation. The committee was provided with a table showing the compensation received by each district attorney and a map of Colorado judicial districts (Attachments A and B). Mr. Raynes responded to questions from the committee.

03:28 PM -- Senate Bill 12-116

Representative Gardner announced that the committee would hear testimony on Senate Bill 12-116 at this meeting and lay the bill over for action only to give the parties a chance to reach a compromise.

Representative Brown, sponsor, presented the bill. The bill removes cathinones from the list of schedule I substances and adds them to the general statutory definition of controlled substances. It defines a cathinone as a synthetic or natural material containing cathinone chemical structures and changes penalties for possession or distribution of a cathinone as follows:

the penalty for a person who possesses any amount of cathinone is reduced from a class 4 felony (for more than four grams) or a 6 felony (for less than four grams) to a class 1 misdemeanor;

a new class 3 felony is established for a person who distributes, manufactures, dispenses, or sells cathinones; and

a new civil penalty of between $10,000 and $500,000, credited to the General Fund, is created for deceptive trade practices by a person or entity that distributes, manufactures, sells, or purchases bath salts or other products containing a cathinone.

As is the case under current law, enhanced sentencing is available for distribution of cathinone products to a minor by an adult who is at least two years older than the minor.

Background. Cathinones are currently listed as one of approximately 150 schedule I substances, which also include more commonly known drugs such as heroin, morphine, codeine, peyote, GHB, BZP, and mescaline. According to the Judicial Branch, on average 2,314 adults and 130 juveniles are convicted of possession of a schedule I substance per year. A total of 2,484 adults and 131 juveniles are convicted of distribution, intent to distribute or conspiracy to distribute a schedule I substance each year.

Under current law, possession of a cathinone is punishable by either a class 4 felony (for more than four grams) or a class 6 felony (for less than four grams). Distribution of a schedule I substance, including a cathinone, is currently a class 3 felony, with enhanced sentencing for crimes that involve minors. The current definition of a cathinones does not explicitly include synthetic materials or identified derivatives.

03:35 PM -- Marc Soicher, representing himself, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Soicher related details about a young man with whom he is acquainted who has used cathinones. He discussed the changes in the young man's behavior during the time he was using the drug. He spoke about the toll drugs take on the life of the user and the user's family. He responded to questions from the committee about the potential penalties under the bill.

03:46 PM -- Michael Dougherty, representing the Colorado Attorney General's Office, testified in opposition to the bill. Mr. Dougherty spoke about the positive things the bill does. He discussed other states that have made cathinones a schedule I controlled substance. He indicated that his opposition is to the specialized penalty structure that only applies to this class of drugs.

03:49 PM -- Tamar Wilson, representing the Colorado District Attorneys' Council (CDAC), testified about the bill. Ms. Wilson explained that the CDAC supports portions of the bill and opposes other portions. She listed many of the negative effects of cathinone use. She spoke about the various analogs and derivatives of cathinones. Ms. Wilson responded to questions from the committee about potential prosecutions under the criminal and civil provisions of the bill.

04:13 PM -- Christie Donner, representing the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Donner passed around a package of a cathinone derivative material marketed as bath salts that was labeled "Not For Human Consumption." She indicated that the bill is designed to criminalize the manufacture, distribution, sale, and possession of such products. She stressed the importance of the consumer protection provisions of the bill. She expressed her opinion that the product is knowingly marketed to teens and young adults.

04:20 PM -- Maureen Cain, representing the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Cain discussed the penalty structure outlined in the bill. She expressed her opinion that the penalties are appropriate for the actions and the target population of the bill.

04:26 PM

Representative Waller announced that the bill would be laid over for action at a later date. Representative Brown made closing comments about a forthcoming potential compromise on the bill. Members of the committee commented about the bill.

04:31 PM -- Senate Bill 12-175

Representative Duran, sponsor, presented Senate Bill 12-175 concerning statutorily established time intervals. The reengrossed bill modifies current law to establish time intervals based on a "rule of seven" for various statutory legal processes. Seven-day intervals are used to compute filing deadlines and other significant dates following an initial act. The bill affects statutes relating to Colorado civil actions, criminal procedure, juvenile cases, appellate cases, municipal courts, probate, water court, adoption petitions, and other miscellaneous statutory time intervals. In general, but not in all cases, the timeframe for a responsive act is extended to the next seven-day interval, while the timeframe for certain notices (e.g., to a criminal defendant) and scheduling certain hearings is reduced to the next-lower seven-day interval. Certain statutory timeframes are not modified based on the need to conform with federal law or other implementation concerns.

Background. Under current law, time intervals between the initiation of a legal procedure and subsequent events, such as the deadline for filing responsive pleadings, are frequently set as a multiple of 10 days, or may be set as a number of months, a multiple of five days, or some other number of days specific to the procedure. Exceptions for weekends and holidays do not apply uniformly. Therefore, filing deadlines and other crucial dates are commonly calculated to fall on weekends under current law.

An example is Colorado's process to challenge spurious liens. Current law provides that a show cause order issued by a court require a lien claimant to appear not less than 10 days nor more than 20 days after service of the order. Senate Bill 12-175 proposes to modify this process to require appearance by the lien claimant not less than 14 days nor more than 21 days after service of the show cause order.

As of December 1, 2009, similar computation problems related to time intervals were largely eliminated in the federal court system by virtue of changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP). Computation of time intervals under the present FRCP involves multiples of seven days, with subsequent events to occur on the same day of the week as the initiating act.

On December 14, 2011, the Colorado Supreme Court adopted Rule Change 2011(18), effective January 1, 2012, and Rule Change 2011(19), effective July 1, 2012. These actions by the Supreme Court adopt seven-day time intervals applicable to civil procedure, criminal procedure, juvenile cases, appellate cases, municipal courts, probate, adoption petitions, and other miscellaneous court rules. Many of the affected court rules correspond with statutes modified in a conforming manner by SB 12-175; however, some modified court rules have no corresponding statutory time limit, and some statutes modified by SB 12-175 have no corresponding court rule.

04:37 PM

Representative Duran responded to questions from the committee.

04:40 PM -- Richard Laugesen, representing the Colorado Bar Association, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Laugesen spoke about the need for the bill. He responded to questions from the committee.


BILL:	SB12-175
TIME:	04:49:35 PM
MOVED:	Duran
MOTION:	Adopt prepared amendment L.006 (Attachment C). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Pabon
		VOTE
	DelGrosso
	Duran
	Kagan
	Lee
	Nikkel
	Pabon
	Ryden
	Sonnenberg
	Waller
	Barker	Excused
	Gardner B.

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB12-175
TIME:	04:51:30 PM
MOVED:	Pabon
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 12-175, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 8-0, with 3 excused.
SECONDED:	Kagan
		VOTE
	DelGrosso	Yes
	Duran	Yes
	Kagan	Yes
	Lee	Yes
	Nikkel	Yes
	Pabon	Yes
	Ryden	Yes
	Sonnenberg	Excused
	Waller	Yes
	Barker	Excused
	Gardner B.	Excused

Final YES: 8 NO: 0 EXC: 3 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

04:55 PM

The committee adjourned.