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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7349
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 5734
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING IDENTITY THEFT VICTIM ACCESS TO
RECORDS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 54-56e of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 2
(a) There shall be a pretrial program for accelerated rehabilitation of 3
persons accused of a crime or crimes or a motor vehicle violation or 4
violations for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment may be 5
imposed, which crimes or violations are not of a serious nature. Upon 6
application by any such person for participation in the program, the 7
court shall, but only as to the public, order the court file sealed, except 8
as provided in subsection (g) of this section. 9
(b) The court may, in its discretion, invoke such program on motion 10
of the defendant or on motion of a state's attorney or prosecuting 11
attorney with respect to a defendant (1) who, the court believes, will 12
probably not offend in the future, (2) who has no previous record of 13
conviction of a crime or of a violation of section 14-196, subsection (c) 14
of section 14-215, section 14-222a, subsection (a) or subdivision (1) of 15 Raised Bill No. 7349
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subsection (b) of section 14-224, section 14-227a or 14-227m or 16
subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection (a) of section 14-227n, and (3) who 17
states under oath, in open court or before any person designated by the 18
clerk and duly authorized to administer oaths, under the penalties of 19
perjury, (A) that the defendant has never had such program invoked 20
on the defendant's behalf or that the defendant was charged with a 21
misdemeanor or a motor vehicle violation for which a term of 22
imprisonment of one year or less may be imposed and ten or more 23
years have passed since the date that any charge or charges for which 24
the program was invoked on the defendant's behalf were dismissed by 25
the court, or (B) with respect to a defendant who is a veteran, that the 26
defendant has not had such program invoked in the defendant's behalf 27
more than once previously, provided the defendant shall agree thereto 28
and provided notice has been given by the defendant, on a form 29
prescribed by the Office of the Chief Court Administrator, to the victim 30
or victims of such crime or motor vehicle violation, if any, by 31
registered or certified mail and such victim or victims have an 32
opportunity to be heard thereon. Any defendant who makes 33
application for participation in such program shall pay to the court an 34
application fee of thirty-five dollars. No defendant shall be allowed to 35
participate in the pretrial program for accelerated rehabilitation more 36
than two times. For the purposes of this section, "veteran" means any 37
person who was discharged or released under conditions other than 38
dishonorable from active service in the armed forces as defined in 39
section 27-103. 40
(c) This section shall not be applicable: (1) To any person charged 41
with (A) a class A felony, (B) a class B felony, except a violation of 42
subdivision (1), (2) or (3) of subsection (a) of section 53a-122 that does 43
not involve the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force 44
against another person, or a violation of subdivision (4) of subsection 45
(a) of section 53a-122 that does not involve the use, attempted use or 46
threatened use of physical force against another person and does not 47
involve a violation by a person who is a public official, as defined in 48
section 1-110, or a state or municipal employee, as defined in section 1-49 Raised Bill No. 7349
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110, or (C) a violation of section 14-227a or 14-227m, subdivision (1) or 50
(2) of subsection (a) of section 14-227n, subdivision (2) of subsection (a) 51
of section 53-21 or section 53a-56b, 53a-60d, 53a-70, 53a-70a, 53a-70b, 52
53a-71, except as provided in subdivision (5) of this subsection, 53a-53
72a, 53a-72b, 53a-90a, 53a-196e or 53a-196f, (2) to any person charged 54
with a crime or motor vehicle violation who, as a result of the 55
commission of such crime or motor vehicle violation, causes the death 56
of another person, (3) to any person accused of a family violence crime 57
as defined in section 46b-38a who (A) is eligible for the pretrial family 58
violence education program established under section 46b-38c, or (B) 59
has previously had the pretrial family violence education program 60
invoked in such person's behalf, (4) to any person charged with a 61
violation of section 21a-267 or 21a-279 who (A) is eligible for the 62
pretrial drug education and community service program established 63
under section 54-56i, or (B) has previously had the pretrial drug 64
education program or the pretrial drug education and community 65
service program invoked on such person's behalf, (5) unless good 66
cause is shown, to (A) any person charged with a class C felony, or (B) 67
any person charged with committing a violation of subdivision (1) of 68
subsection (a) of section 53a-71 while such person was less than four 69
years older than the other person, (6) to any person charged with a 70
violation of section 9-359 or 9-359a, (7) to any person charged with a 71
motor vehicle violation (A) while operating a commercial motor 72
vehicle, as defined in section 14-1, or (B) who holds a commercial 73
driver's license or commercial driver's instruction permit at the time of 74
the violation, (8) to any person charged with a violation of subdivision 75
(6) of subsection (a) of section 53a-60, or (9) to a health care provider or 76
vendor participating in the state's Medicaid program charged with a 77
violation of section 53a-122 or subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of 78
section 53a-123. 79
(d) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, any 80
defendant who enters such program shall pay to the court a 81
participation fee of one hundred dollars. Any defendant who enters 82
such program shall agree to the tolling of any statute of limitations 83 Raised Bill No. 7349
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with respect to such crime and to a waiver of the right to a speedy trial. 84
Any such defendant shall appear in court and shall, under such 85
conditions as the court shall order, be released to the custody of the 86
Court Support Services Division, except that, if a criminal docket for 87
drug-dependent persons has been established pursuant to section 51-88
181b in the judicial district, such defendant may be transferred, under 89
such conditions as the court shall order, to the court handling such 90
docket for supervision by such court. If the defendant refuses to 91
accept, or, having accepted, violates such conditions, the defendant's 92
case shall be brought to trial. The period of such probation or 93
supervision, or both, shall not exceed two years. If the defendant has 94
reached the age of sixteen years but has not reached the age of eighteen 95
years, the court may order that as a condition of such probation the 96
defendant be referred for services to a youth service bureau 97
established pursuant to section 10-19m, provided the court finds, 98
through an assessment by a youth service bureau or its designee, that 99
the defendant is in need of and likely to benefit from such services. 100
When determining any conditions of probation to order for a person 101
entering such program who was charged with a misdemeanor that did 102
not involve the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force 103
against another person or a motor vehicle violation, the court shall 104
consider ordering the person to perform community service in the 105
community in which the offense or violation occurred. If the court 106
determines that community service is appropriate, such community 107
service may be implemented by a community court established in 108
accordance with section 51-181c if the offense or violation occurred 109
within the jurisdiction of a community court established by said 110
section. If the defendant is charged with a violation of section 46a-58, 111
53-37a, 53a-181j, 53a-181k or 53a-181l, the court may order that as a 112
condition of such probation the defendant participate in a hate crimes 113
diversion program as provided in subsection (e) of this section. If a 114
defendant is charged with a violation of section 53-247, the court may 115
order that as a condition of such probation the defendant undergo 116
psychiatric or psychological counseling or participate in an animal 117
cruelty prevention and education program provided such a program 118 Raised Bill No. 7349
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exists and is available to the defendant. 119
(e) If the court orders the defendant to participate in a hate crimes 120
diversion program as a condition of probation, the defendant shall pay 121
to the court a participation fee of four hundred twenty-five dollars. No 122
person may be excluded from such program for inability to pay such 123
fee, provided (1) such person files with the court an affidavit of 124
indigency or inability to pay, (2) such indigency or inability to pay is 125
confirmed by the Court Support Services Division, and (3) the court 126
enters a finding thereof. The Judicial Department shall contract with 127
service providers, develop standards and oversee appropriate hate 128
crimes diversion programs to meet the requirements of this section. 129
Any defendant whose employment or residence makes it unreasonable 130
to attend a hate crimes diversion program in this state may attend a 131
program in another state which has standards substantially similar to, 132
or higher than, those of this state, subject to the approval of the court 133
and payment of the application and program fees as provided in this 134
section. The hate crimes diversion program shall consist of an 135
educational program and supervised community service. 136
(f) If a defendant released to the custody of the Court Support 137
Services Division satisfactorily completes such defendant's period of 138
probation, such defendant may apply for dismissal of the charges 139
against such defendant and the court, on finding such satisfactory 140
completion, shall dismiss such charges. If the defendant does not apply 141
for dismissal of the charges against such defendant after satisfactorily 142
completing such defendant's period of probation, the court, upon 143
receipt of a report submitted by the Court Support Services Division 144
that the defendant satisfactorily completed such defendant's period of 145
probation, may on its own motion make a finding of such satisfactory 146
completion and dismiss such charges. If a defendant transferred to the 147
court handling the criminal docket for drug-dependent persons 148
satisfactorily completes such defendant's period of supervision, the 149
court shall release the defendant to the custody of the Court Support 150
Services Division under such conditions as the court shall order or 151 Raised Bill No. 7349
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shall dismiss such charges. Upon dismissal, all records of such charges 152
shall be erased pursuant to section 54-142a, except as provided in 153
subsection (g) of this section. An order of the court denying a motion 154
to dismiss the charges against a defendant who has completed such 155
defendant's period of probation or supervision or terminating the 156
participation of a defendant in such program shall be a final judgment 157
for purposes of appeal. 158
(g) In the case of a defendant who is charged with a violation of 159
section 53a-129c or 53a-129d and participates in the program, the 160
victim of such offense shall be able to access the victim's complaint 161
against the defendant and any report by a law enforcement agency 162
concerning such offense. 163
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 54-56e
JUD Joint Favorable