Bill Summary for Bill Number HB12-1085

Date: 02/16/2012

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB12-1085

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Adopt prepared amendment L.005 (Attachment I). The Refer House Bill 12-1085, as amended, to the Commi	PASS PASS

05:51 PM -- House Bill 12-1085

The committee took a brief recess.

05:54 PM

The committee came back to order. Representative Fields, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 12-1085 concerning an exception to the hearsay rule to allow testimony from persons with developmental disabilities. The bill creates an exception to the hearsay rule, which is an existing rule of evidence rendering out-of-court statements inadmissible in a trial, hearing, or other court proceeding. Such a statement made by a developmentally disabled individual, in any criminal or delinquency proceeding in which the declarant is alleged to have been a victim, is admissible in such a proceeding.

Further, a statement is admissible in any criminal, delinquency, or civil proceeding when it describes:

an unlawful sexual offense performed with, by, on, or in the presence of the declarant;

child abuse which the declarant witnessed or to which he or she was subjected;

a homicide; or

an act of domestic violence.

The statement may only be admitted into evidence after the court holds a hearing outside the presence of the jury to rule on the reliability of the statement and the declarant either testifies at the hearing or, if the declarant is unavailable, corroborative evidence exists concerning the act that is the subject of the statement. If the statement is admitted, the court is required to instruct the jury as to how to consider such hearsay evidence.

05:58 PM -- Maggie Conboy, representing the Denver District Attorney's Office, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Conboy stated her opinion that the bill will allow individuals with a developmental delay to be heard in court in a meaningful way. She responded to questions from the committee about the potential frequency with which the hearsay exception would apply. She explained other hearsay exceptions.

06:06 PM -- Tom Raynes, representing the Colorado District Attorneys' Council, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Raynes provided technical assistance to the committee on the subject of hearsay evidence and hearsay exceptions. He stated that the language in the bill mirrors current law on hearsay exceptions for child victims of sexual assault, which has been found to be constitutionally sound. Discussion ensued about whether rules of evidence should be changed by a judicial process rather than a legislative process.

06:10 PM -- Michael Dougherty, representing the Colorado Attorney General's Office, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Dougherty addressed concerns expressed by the committee about changing the rules of evidence through a legislative process.

06:16 PM

Discussion continued among the committee, Ms. Conboy, Mr. Raynes, and Mr. Dougherty.

06:23 PM

Discussion continued on the issue of the best process for changing rules of evidence.

06:32 PM

Discussion ensued about other ways to achieve the goal of the sponsor. Representative Fields distributed a fact sheet about the bill (Attachment G).

06:41 PM -- Bridget Klauber, representing the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, testified in opposition to the bill. Ms. Klauber spoke about her experience as a public defender in cases involving developmentally disabled individuals. She stressed that these cases are more complex than they initially appear and expressed her opinion that this bill is not the correct way to proceed. She spoke about the potential unreliability of statements made by individuals with developmental disabilities. Ms. Klauber discussed hearsay exceptions in other states and indicated that no other states do exactly what the bill seeks to do. She responded to questions from the committee.

06:56 PM

Discussion continued about the merits of the bill.

07:02 PM -- Wendy and Kristen Rosanova, representing themselves, testified in support of the bill. Wendy Rosanova discussed the prevalence of abuse of people with developmental disabilities and the difficulty inherent in prosecuting such crimes. She spoke about the vulnerability of the developmentally disabled population. She responded to questions from the committee.

07:11 PM -- Jennifer and Phildale Billingsley, representing themselves, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Billingsley related details of her developmentally disabled daughter's experience with physical and sexual abuse. Mr. Billingsley discussed his background working with children in general and his stepdaughter specifically.

07:22 PM -- Ann Rossart, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Rossart read a prepared statement about her experience as a developmentally disabled person who has testified in court about abusive situations. She stated her opinion that people like her should have the same protections as children in sexual assault cases.

07:26 PM -- Commander Rob McGregor, representing the Aurora Police Department, testified in support of the bill. Commander McGregor discussed developmentally disabled victims of sexual violence.

07:29 PM -- Carole O'Shea, representing the Aurora Police Department, testified in support of the bill. Ms. O'Shea discussed her experience as a victim advocate and spoke about the Colorado Victims Rights Act.

07:34 PM -- Lloyd Lewis, representing the ARC of Colorado, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Lewis compared acts of violence or sexual abuse against developmentally disabled persons and against children. He discussed his experience with developmentally disabled individuals.

07:38 PM -- Jeff Clayton, representing the Judicial Branch, testified that the branch is neutral on the bill. Mr. Clayton stated that a sample of justices polled indicated that the hearsay exception in the bill happens very rarely. He responded to questions from the committee about the Rules of Evidence Committee.

07:53 PM

Discussion continued about the Committee on Rules of Evidence.

07:56 PM -- Von Limbaugh, representing himself, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Limbaugh distributed an information sheet about the bill (Attachment H). He spoke about the education of law enforcement officers in terms of dealing with developmentally disabled persons who allege a crime. He discussed the targeting of developmentally disabled persons by predators and the need to protect such a vulnerable population with a hearsay exception.

08:00 PM -- DeAnn Major, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Major spoke about her professional background working with individuals with developmental disabilities.

08:06 PM -- Diana Goldberg, representing SungateKids, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Goldberg stated her opinion that children and developmentally disabled persons can give credible evidence in criminal cases. She discussed ways of determining credibility. She expressed concern that not enough cases involving developmentally disabled individuals are going to trial. Ms. Goldberg responded to questions from the committee.

08:17 PM -- Naomi Starosta, representing the ARC of Aurora, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Starosta testified on behalf of Robert Hardaway, a professor of law at the University of Denver, and addressed the history of 27 existing hearsay exceptions in Colorado.

08:23 PM

Representative Pabon discussed prepared amendment L.005 (Attachment I).


BILL:	HB12-1085
TIME:	08:24:37 PM
MOVED:	Pabon
MOTION:	Adopt prepared amendment L.005 (Attachment I). The motion passed on a vote of 5-4.
SECONDED:	Duran
		VOTE
	DelGrosso	No
	Duran	Yes
	Kagan	Yes
	Lee	Yes
	Nikkel	Excused
	Pabon	Yes
	Ryden	Yes
	Sonnenberg	Excused
	Waller	No
	Barker	No
	Gardner B.	No

YES: 5 NO: 4 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	HB12-1085
TIME:	08:44:33 PM
MOVED:	Pabon
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 12-1085, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 6-3, with 2 excused.
SECONDED:	Duran
		VOTE
	DelGrosso	Yes
	Duran	Yes
	Kagan	No
	Lee	Yes
	Nikkel	Excused
	Pabon	Yes
	Ryden	No
	Sonnenberg	Excused
	Waller	No
	Barker	Yes
	Gardner B.	Yes

Final YES: 6 NO: 3 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS