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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Tripp

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/01/07

3/14/07 HB 355/aHJC/aHFl#1

SHORT TITLE Electronic Recording of Certain Depositions

SB

ANALYST Wilson

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

Unknown Unknown

Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

Public Defender Department (PDD)

Second Judicial District Attorney (SJDA)

Sentencing Commission (SC)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HFl Amendment #1

The House Floor amendment #1 clarifies the bill by removing the HJC amendment and changing

the language to read as follows:

•

in a prosecution for a crime arising from a domestic violence incident is changed

to a prosecution under the Crimes Against Household Members Act;

•

a witness of a domestic violence incident is changed to a witness and

•

the defendant’s attorneys is changed to the defendant’s attorney.

Synopsis of HJC Amendment

The House Judiciary Committee amendment to House Bill 355 clarifies that one can be

prosecuted for domestic violence in general, not just for a domestic violence incident.

House Bill 355/aHJC/aHFl#1 – Page

2

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 355 allows motion picture, videotape or digital image recordings of depositions of

victims and witnesses under the age of 16 in domestic violence and sexual assault cases. The bill

amends Section 30-9-17, giving the court authority to order an electronic recording of a

deposition upon good cause that includes a finding of unreasonable and unnecessary mental

harm to the victim. The supreme court will adopt rules to govern the implementation of this bill.

The cost of the electronic recording shall be paid by the state. Depositions shall be taken before

the judge in chambers and under oath, but the defendant will be able to hear testimony during the

taking of the deposition.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

There appears to be a significant cost to bear on the state agency that will be responsible for

supplying the audio and video equipment statewide to implement this bill.

There will be a minimal administrative cost for statewide update, distribution and documentation

of statutory changes. Any additional fiscal impact on the judiciary would be proportional to

challenges to this law and requests an increased number of motions for electronic recordings

made to the district court. New laws, amendments to existing laws and new hearings have the

potential to increase caseloads in the courts, thus requiring additional resources to handle the

increase.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The AOC states this bill will make discoverable a victim’s medical records and other evidence

arguably relevant to the good cause definition. In addition, there will be additional hearings to

determine if a victim can testify with videotape or digital media.

The AOC believes this bill could aid in protecting the victim’s rights as set out in Section 31-26-

4A.

The PDD states that although the bill provides for the defendant to communicate with his

attorney during the deposition, where presumably the attorney will be able to cross-examine the

witness, the bill does not provide for a face to face confrontation as is contemplated by the

Confrontation Clause of the United States Constitution .that provides a criminal defendant the

right to “confront" face-to-face witnesses giving evidence against him at trial, and placement of

screen between defendant and child sexual assault victims during testimony against defendant

violated defendant's Confrontation Clause rights.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

There may be an administrative impact on the courts as a result of a potential increase in the

number of motions for electronic recordings made to the district court.

House Bill 355/aHJC/aHFl#1 – Page

3

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The SJDA provided the following:

The term domestic violence should be specifically defined. Does the use of depositions

only apply to crimes enumerated in the 30-3-10, et. seq. or does it apply to any crime

occurring in the home.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

The bill states the cost of deposition shall be paid for by the State. The SJDA asks whether this

means the courts or the prosecutor’s office.

DW/mt:csd