AN ACT CONCERNING REVISIONS TO VARIOUS STATUTES CONCERNING THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.

AN ACT CONCERNING REVISIONS TO VARIOUS STATUTES CONCERNING THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.

1. allows a court to suspend the mandatory minimum sentence for first-degree sexual assault if at the time of the offense, the offender was under age 18 or his or her mental capacity was significantly impaired;

2. modifies the penalty for jurors who fail to respond to a jury summons;

3. provides that juvenile prosecutors employed by the Division of Criminal Justice on July 1, 2009, are within available appropriations, considered appointed by the Criminal Justice Commission with the powers and duties of assistant state's attorneys;

4. requires the court, instead of the prosecutor, to provide a transcript of certain sentencing hearings to the Board of Pardons and Paroles;

5. limits access to state and local police reports and witness statements by the Division of Public Defender Services unless authorized by a prosecutorial official;

6. expands the circumstances under which a person on probation is guilty of failure to appear;

7. expands the crime of forgery to punish someone who falsely makes, completes, or alters a written instrument by signing his or her own name to it to falsely and fraudulently represent that he or she has authority to sign the document;

8. makes confidential youthful offender records available to law enforcement and prosecutorial officials conducting legitimate criminal investigations; and

9. allows courts to set conditions for releasing defendants who are not competent to stand trial for certain specified crimes.

*House Amendment “A” eliminates the original bill's provisions lowering the maximum possible penalty for first-degree sexual assault against victims under age 10 and sequestering certain adult witnesses. It adds the provision on competency to stand trial.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2009 except the provisions concerning juvenile prosecutors and provisions of sentencing transcripts, which are effective July 1, 2009, and the provision limiting law enforcement access to certain information held by the Division of Public Defender Services, which is effective on passage.

The bill provides that, within available appropriations, juvenile prosecutors employed by the Division of Criminal Justice on July 1, 2009 (1) are deemed to have been appointed by the Criminal Justice Commission and (2) have and exercise all the powers and perform all the duties of an assistant state's attorney. It also provides that such prosecutors may act in any judicial district and in connection with any matter regardless of the judicial district where the offense took place, and may be assigned to act in any judicial district at any time on designation by the chief state's attorney. The bill makes numerous conforming changes.

The bill also provides that beginning July 1, 2009, any “prosecutorial official” assigned to handle juvenile matters in the criminal session of the Superior Court will have been appointed by the Criminal Justice Commission.

Apparently the term “prosecutorial official” refers to the chief state's attorney, each deputy chief state's attorney, and each state's attorney, assistant state's attorney, and deputy assistant state's attorney (CGS §§ 51-278a & 51-287a).

By law, prosecutors must request transcripts of certain sentencing hearings for delivery to the Board of Pardons and Paroles. The bill requires the prosecutor's request to be on the record and makes the court, instead of the prosecutor, responsible for delivering the transcript to the board. The affected sentencing hearings are those at which a defendant is sentenced to a definite, non-suspended sentence of more than two years' imprisonment.

Current law gives state and local criminal justice agencies access to all state and local police reports, presentence investigations and reports, psychological and medical reports, criminal records, incarceration and parole records, and court records and transcripts in the statewide criminal justice information technology system whether such records and documents normally exist in electronic or hard copy forms. The bill prohibits access to state and local police reports and witness statements by the Division of Public Defender Services unless authorized by a prosecutorial official.

The bill expands the circumstances under which a person on probation for a felony conviction or a misdemeanor or motor vehicle violation is guilty of failure to appear. Under current law, the person is guilty if he or she misses a legally called probation violation hearing. Under the bill, the person is guilty if he or she is misses any legally called court hearing related to a probation violation.

Failure to appear at a hearing on a felony violation is a class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison, a $ 5,000 fine or both. Failure to appear for a hearing on a misdemeanor or motor vehicle violation is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $ 2,000, or both.

The bill allows the court to suspend the mandatory minimum sentence for first-degree sexual assault if, at the time of the offense, the offender was under age 18 or his or her mental capacity was significantly impaired. By law, the mandatory minimum sentence is two years unless the crime involves sexual intercourse with a child under age 16. If the child is under age 16, the mandatory minimum is five years and 10 years if the child is under age 10.

The bill subjects jurors who fail to appear for jury duty to a civil penalty in an amount that the Superior Court judges must establish. Under current law, the jurors are guilty of an infraction. The bill requires the attorney general, within available appropriations, to enforce the provision.

The bill expands the crime of forgery to punish someone who falsely makes, completes, or alters a written instrument by signing his or her own name to it to falsely and fraudulently represent that he or she has authority to sign the document.

By law, a person commits forgery by (1) falsely making, completing, or altering a written instrument with intent to defraud, deceive, or injure someone or (2) possessing a forged written instrument. The penalty ranges from a class B misdemeanor to a class C felony depending on the type of document being forged.

The bill makes confidential youthful offender records available to law enforcement and prosecutorial officials conducting legitimate criminal investigations. By law, records of youthful offenders are confidential unless they involve certain crimes. Current law allows disclosure of confidential records:

1. between agencies and individuals directly providing services to the youth, including law enforcement, state and federal prosecutors, school and court officials, the Division of Criminal Justice, the Court Support Services Division, and a crime victim advocate;

2. to the youth and the youth's parents or guardian until the youth reaches age 18 or is emancipated;

3. to the youth's attorney if they are relevant to a proceeding; and

4. to Board of Pardons and Paroles and correction employees who need them to perform their duties when (a) the offender is adjudged a youthful offender and sentenced to prison or convicted of a crime on the regular superior court docket and (b) the records are relevant to a risk and needs assessment during incarceration or determining suitability for release or a pardon or supervision and treatment needs on parole or other release.

By law, courts may order periodic competency examinations of defendants found incompetent to stand trial and unlikely to become competent within the period in which they can lawfully be detained (18 months or the maximum prison sentence they could serve, whichever is shorter) if they are charged with a crime that resulted in death or serious physical injury and ordered (1) released or (2) placed in the Department of Mental Heath and Addiction Services commissioner's custody. The bill broadens the crimes covered by this authority to include:

1. risk of injury to a child consisting of having contact with the intimate parts of a child under age 16 or subjecting the child to contact with the offender's intimate body parts in a sexual and indecent manner likely to impair the child's health or morals;

2. second-degree assault by using a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, other than a gun, to intentionally cause physical injury to another;

3. first-, second-, or third-degree sexual assault;

4. sexual assault in a spousal or cohabitating relationship; or

5. third-degree sexual assault with a firearm.

Under existing law, juvenile prosecutors are appointed by the state's attorney for the judicial district where the prosecutor serves. But most other prosecutors are appointed by the Criminal Justice Commission, a constitutionally created Executive Branch agency. Juvenile prosecutors can only handle cases on the juvenile docket; assistant state's attorneys can handle cases on both the juvenile and adult dockets.