HOUSE BILL NO. 9 "An Act relating to the right of crime victims and victims of juvenile offenses to be present at court proceedings; and amending Rule 615, Alaska Rules of Evidence." Representative Porter provided members with a draft committee substitute, Work Draft #O-LS008\H, dated 2/12/97 (copy on file). Representative Porter noted that the committee substitute includes provisions proposed by the Governor. He maintained that the Governor's bill is complementary to the original principal that victims have a right to be present in court, anytime that the defendant has the right to be present. He provided members with a sectional analysis of the proposed committee substitute. He reviewed the sectional analysis. Sections 1, 2, 14 19, and 20 of this Act clarify the right of crime victims to be present at all criminal or juvenile proceedings where the accused or juvenile has the right to be present. Sections 3, 4, 5, and 6 create an exception to the weekly earnings and liquid assets exemptions to allow a victim, who is attempting to collect on an order of restitution, to levy upon assets held by a prisoner outside an institution. Currently, assets outside the institution cannot be collected on a restitution by a victim. Under present law, assets held inside the institution are already available to victims under AS 09.38.030(f). Section 7 amends the definition of "incapacitated" in the sexual assault statutes. The amendment takes out "and" and puts in "or". Sexual Assault in the Third Degree prohibits, for example, sexual contact with a person who the offender knows is incapacitated. The definition is amended so that the State, in proving its case, must prove either that the victim was temporarily unable to appraise the nature of his or her conduct, or that the victim was temporarily unable to express unwillingness to act. At present the statutes require the State to prove both in order to establish its case. Section 8 adds a new provision to the criminal code making it a class A misdemeanor to interfere with a person who is reporting or attempting to report a domestic violence crime to the police. These kinds of instances happen when someone who is a victim of domestic violence decides to report. 2 Sections 9, 10, 11, and 12 amend the bail statutes to require that the safety of the victim be considered by the court when it makes decisions concerning bail and conditions of release for the defendant pending trial, sentence and appeal. Section 13 limits the cases where the court can order a victim to undergo a psychiatric or psychological examination to cases where (1) the victim's psychiatric condition is an element of the offense (for example, in sexual assault in the first degree under AS 11.41.410(a)(3), the defendant is charged with sexual penetration with a person who the defendant knows is mentally incapable and who is under the defendant's care); or (2) the state gives notice that it will rely on evidence that the victim is suffering from a continuing psychological condition (such as rape trauma syndrome). Representative Porter maintained that the defense has in some instances improperly requested the court to have a victim undergo a psychological examination. Section 15 provides that applications for compensation and personal identification information are confidential records in proceedings before the Violent Crimes Compensation Board. The records are confidential after an application has been accepted and compensation awarded. Section 17 allows victims who are subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury, who live more than 50 miles from the site of the grand jury, or who must customarily fly to the site of the grand jury, to testify telephonically. Other witnesses are allowed under present law to testify by telephone under these circumstances. Section 18 amends Alaska Evidence Rule 404(b) to allow, in a prosecution of a crime involving domestic violence or interfering with a report of domestic violence, evidence to be introduced that the defendant has committed other crimes involving domestic violence or interfering with the report of a crime involving domestic violence against the same or another victim. Section 20 repeals Alaska Delinquency Rule 3(c) because the definition of "victim" is no longer required under the circumstances summarized in Section 17. Sections 22 - 23 include applicability and effective date provisions. Co-Chair Hanley noted that fiscal notes will need to be updated. Representative Davies posed questions for Representative 3 Porter to consider before the next hearing. He asked how state and federal constitutional law will be balanced. He noted that he would pursue questions regarding section 18. Representative Davis asked if section 8 was included as the result of specific cases. Representative Porter noted that victims have been precluded from reporting because they did not have phone privileges. ANNE CARPENETI, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF LAW discussed psychiatric examination of a victim. She referred to a recent Fairbanks case. She explained that a victim was sequestered by the defendant and badly beaten. The victim's injuries required steel plates to replace her cheek bones and plastic implants to rebuild her eye lids. Her mouth was wired shut for 10 days. She was kept for four days and raped at least three times. In addition, she suffered a concussion which caused her to forget some of the things that happened during the assault. The defense requested, and the court granted, an eight hour psychiatric exam. She noted that the court based its decision on Pickens v. State; 675 P.2d 665 (Alaska App. 1984). The Administration feels that the court exceeded its authority.