AB 1551: Vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Session Year: 2023-2024
House: Assembly

Current Status:

Failed

(2024-02-01: From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.)

Introduced

First Committee Review

First Chamber

Second Committee Review

Second Chamber

Enacted

Version:

Under existing law, a person who drives a motor vehicle when the person has 0.08% or more, by weight, of alcohol in their blood, is guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol. Existing law defines vehicular manslaughter as the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought, in the driving of a vehicle, where the killing was either the proximate result of the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to a felony or a lawful act that might produce death, in an unlawful manner, either with or without gross negligence. Under existing law, vehicular manslaughter that is committed while the person was driving under the influence of alcohol is punishable as vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated or gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Existing law requires the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to a person, other than that driver, or in the death of a person to immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident and provide specified personal information to the injured person or the occupants of the other vehicle and to any traffic or police officer at the scene of the accident. Under existing law, if a vehicle accident results in permanent, serious injury or death, a person who violates the requirement to stop is subject to punishment by imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 3, or 4 years, or in a county jail for not less than 90 days nor more than one year, or by a specified fine, or both the imprisonment and fine.

Existing law provides for the compensation of victims and derivative victims of specified types of crimes by the California Victim Compensation Board from the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for specified losses suffered as a result of those crimes.

This bill would require a court to order a defendant to pay restitution in the form of child maintenance to each of the victims children until each child reaches 18 years of age if the defendant is convicted of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, or a hit-and-run while intoxicated causing death and the deceased victim of the offense was the parent of a minor child. The bill would require the court to determine an amount that is reasonable and necessary for the maintenance of the victims child after considering specified factors.This bill would require the court to order that child maintenance payments be made to the clerk of the court as trustee for remittance to the childs surviving parent or guardian. The bill would require the clerk to remit the payments to the surviving parent or guardian within 10 working days of receipt by the clerk. If a defendant who is ordered to pay child maintenance is incarcerated and unable to pay, the bill would give the defendant up to one year after their release from incarceration to begin the payments, including entering a payment plan to address any arrearage.This bill would authorize the victim to collect from the Restitution Fund any portion of the child maintenance that remains unsatisfied. By expanding the authorizations for use of moneys in the continuously appropriated Restitution Fund, this bill would make an appropriation.

This bill would authorize the child of a victim of those crimes to collect compensation from the Restitution Fund for loss of support until the child reaches 18 years of age, in an amount not to exceed $100,000. By expanding the authorizations for use of moneys in the continuously appropriated Restitution Fund, this bill would make an appropriation.

Discussed in Hearing

Assembly Standing Committee on Public Safety

10MIN

Apr 18, 2023

Assembly Standing Committee on Public Safety

View Older Hearings

Bill Author

Mike Gipson

AB 1551: Vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Current Status:

Assembly Standing Committee on Public Safety

News Coverage: