(1) Existing law authorizes a person who has been convicted and incarcerated for a felony and later pardoned on the basis of innocence or found to be factually innocent of that crime, as specified, to present a claim against the state to the California Victim Compensation Board for the pecuniary injury sustained by the person through the erroneous conviction and incarceration. Existing law requires the board to recommend to the Legislature that an appropriation be made and the claim paid if a court has made a finding that the person is factually innocent or if the person proves to the board that they are factually innocent. Under existing law, the person is considered factually innocent if the crime with which they were charged was either not committed at all, or if committed, was not committed by that person.
This bill would instead establish
factual innocence for these purposes if the claimant establishes by a preponderance of the evidence, either before the court or the board, that a reasonable jury would not find the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt based on evidence currently available before the court or board. In reaching the board’s determination of the merits of the claim, the bill would allow the board to deem the claimant’s denial of the commission of the crime, reversal of judgment of conviction, the claimant’s acquittal on retrial, or the decision of the prosecuting authority not to retry the claimant for the crime as sufficient to warrant the board’s recommendation that the claimant be indemnified, and would specify that the claimant is not required to provide substantial independent corroborating evidence that the claimant is innocent in addition to those facts. The bill would prohibit the Attorney General from relying solely on the trial record of a conviction that has been reversed or dismissed to establish that the
claimant is not entitled to compensation, and would require any new evidence presented by either party at the hearing to comply with the rules of evidence.
(2) Existing law requires the court to order records sealed if a person is found to be factually innocent, including records of arrest and detention, upon written or oral motion of any party.
The bill would require the court, in ordering records sealed pursuant to this provision, to indicate on the record that the person was found factually innocent of the charge.