05/14/2021 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY

                    SB 122-VICTIM DEFINITION                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
4:41:26 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN announced that the  final order of business would be                                                               
SENATE  BILL NO.  122,  "An  Act relating  to  the definition  of                                                               
'victim.'"                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN  stated that Legislative  Legal &  Research services                                                               
has permission  to make  any technical  or conforming  changes to                                                               
the bill.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
4:42:02 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SNYDER moved  to adopt  Amendment 1,  labeled 32-                                                               
LS0422\B.1 Dunmire 5/13/21, which read as follows:                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     Page 1, line 10:                                                                                                           
     Delete "adult"                                                                                                             
     Insert "[ADULT]"                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN objected.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
4:42:10 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   SNYDER  stated   that  the   proposed  amendment                                                               
pertained to  page 2,  line 1,  and without  the adoption  of the                                                               
proposed amendment, the term "adult"  in the bill could allow for                                                               
an instance  where a parent is  a victim and is  not deceased but                                                               
becomes incapacitated and  a minor child would not  be allowed to                                                               
engage the  process in  the same  way as in  an instance  where a                                                               
parent would become deceased.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
4:44:41 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  LORA  REINBOLD,  Alaska   State  Legislature,  as  prime                                                               
sponsor of SB 122, answered  that the proposed amendment appeared                                                               
to be  sensible.   Notwithstanding that,  she suggested  that the                                                               
original bill  may have contained  a drafting error but  that the                                                               
intention  had been  that an  adult child  would be  eligible for                                                               
victims' benefits.   She  noted that  "adult child"  was included                                                               
intentionally  and  was  based  on  the  scenario  that  she  had                                                               
described in  previous testimony.   In response to  Chair Claman,                                                               
she indicated that she did not support Amendment 1.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
4:47:29 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE KURKA suggested that on page  2, on lines 1 and 2,                                                               
there  exist  other  potential  victims  that  could  be  further                                                               
defined.   He referred  to the  underlying statute  and suggested                                                               
that family  members of victims are  also victims.  He  asked the                                                               
rationale for not including both  adult and minor children in the                                                               
definition.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
4:49:47 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
ANDREW   DUNMIRE,  Legislative   Counsel,  Legislative   Legal  &                                                               
Research Services, Legislative Affairs  Agency, answered that the                                                               
determination to adopt the amendment  would be one of legislative                                                               
policy.  He  explained that should the amendment  be adopted, and                                                               
a  scenario  exist  in  which   the  victim  of  the  crime  were                                                               
incapacitated but still able to  testify, it could be interpreted                                                               
that  a minor  child  would be  able to  testify  instead of  the                                                               
victim.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  KURKA asked  whether the  definition of  a victim                                                               
was an individual who may wish to engage in litigation.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
MR. DUNMIRE  answered that the  statute was a  procedural statute                                                               
used in criminal litigation and  pertains to who shall be allowed                                                               
to testify  at a bail  hearing or  a sentencing hearing  and does                                                               
not apply to civil litigation.   He further explained that in the                                                               
case  where  an  offender  escapes  custody,  the  Department  of                                                               
Corrections  (DOC)  has  a statutory  obligation  to  notify  the                                                               
victims  of  the  crime,  and the  definition  contained  in  the                                                               
statute would determine who should be notified.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
4:51:57 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SNYDER asked whether  the proposed amendment would                                                               
prohibit  a   minor  from   being  allowed   to  testify   on  an                                                               
incapacitated victim's behalf.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
MR.  DUNMIRE  answered   that  is  a  policy   decision  and  not                                                               
necessarily problematic in the way that had been described.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
4:53:33 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN asked the Department of  Law (DOL) to answer how the                                                               
DOL  or DOC  would  meet  its victim  notification  of escape  or                                                               
parole  in  current  practice  and   what  would  change  if  the                                                               
amendment were adopted.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
4:54:25 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
KACI  SCHROEDER,  Assistant  Attorney  General,  Central  Office,                                                               
Criminal Division (Juneau), Department  of Law, answered that the                                                               
current practice of  notification is as inclusive  as possible on                                                               
the part of DOL.  She  stated that the statute would not prohibit                                                               
notification but that  a guardian may be required  to be involved                                                               
in the notification.  She predicted  no change to the practice of                                                               
notification should Amendment 1 be adopted.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
4:55:29 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  KURKA expressed  his confusion  that there  exist                                                               
two  different lists  regarding who  can  speak on  behalf of  an                                                               
incapacitated victim and asked why the two lists should differ.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  CLAMAN added  that legal  theory  is that  minors are  not                                                               
legally  considered  competent  to  speak  on  their  own  behalf                                                               
despite their  actual ability  to do  so.   He asked  Mr. Dunmire                                                               
whether the definition in subsection (b) related to that theory.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MR. DUNMIRE shared that his  experience while practicing criminal                                                               
law for over  10 years had involved many  minor children offering                                                               
testimony.   He suggested that  judges would have concern  that a                                                               
child would  be capable of  telling a truth  from a lie  and that                                                               
minor children are often deemed capable of testifying in court.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
4:58:15 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE KURKA  offered to  clarify his question  to extend                                                               
to  subsection  (b) and  (c)  in  which there  exist  individuals                                                               
qualified to speak on behalf of  the direct victim of a crime and                                                               
who had  become incapacitated  and unable to  speak on  their own                                                               
behalf,  and he  asked  why it  was proposed  that  there be  two                                                               
separate lists  for one victim who  was unable to testify  due to                                                               
their death  and another  in the  case that  they were  unable to                                                               
testify due to incapacitation.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SNYDER  suggested that the amendment  be revisited                                                               
to ensure the intent to  include equal representation for victims                                                               
who are unable to testify.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR REINBOLD stated  that discussions had taken  place in the                                                               
other  body   and  the  conceptual  intention   of  the  proposed                                                               
amendment had been discussed and  it had been decided to maintain                                                               
the narrow  focus of the  change to  existing statute due  to the                                                               
case  of a  deceased  parent's two  teenage  daughters not  being                                                               
allowed to testify on behalf of their mother.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN asked the invited  representative from the Office of                                                               
Victims' Rights  to opine on  whether to delete the  word "adult"                                                               
as proposed under Amendment 1.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
5:02:25 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SHAUN SEHL, Victims Advocate Attorney,  Alaska Office of Victims'                                                               
Rights, answered that  her office had not  experienced the courts                                                               
misinterpreting subsection 19(b) and it  would permit a parent of                                                               
a live child who is  not incapacitated or incompetent to advocate                                                               
for  their minor  child.   She  provided an  example  in which  a                                                               
victim may be  a minor and have experienced sexual  assault and a                                                               
parent could advocate for the child.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
5:04:38 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
The committee took an at-ease from 5:04 p.m. to 5:11 p.m.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
5:11:30 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  KURKA reiterated  his question  as to  the reason                                                               
for having two lists of associations  to the victim of a crime to                                                               
be eligible to advocate for the victim.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
MS. SEHL  answered that there  exist situations in which  a minor                                                               
may not wish or are not able  to testify on their own behalf, and                                                               
in the case  that [the adult] is still living,  there should be a                                                               
provision to allow for the adult to advocate.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE KURKA  stated that subsection (b)  did not pertain                                                               
to only minor victims, and he  asked whether the lists in (b) and                                                               
(c) could be combined.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
MS.  SEHL  answered  that  it  would be  her  preference  to  see                                                               
proposed  language  to  fully  examine upon  which  to  offer  an                                                               
opinion.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
5:16:44 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  KREISS-TOMKINS  asked  whether  there  exist  any                                                               
known concerns or  pitfalls that could be  examined pertaining to                                                               
the effect of adopting Amendment 1.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN suggested that an alternative to the proposed                                                                      
amendment could be considered and offered to the committee.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SNYDER [moved to] withdraw Amendment 1.  [There                                                                  
being no objection, Amendment 1 was withdrawn].                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN announced that SB 122 was held over.