Legislative Recommendations Were Sent
Copies provided to legislators
The list of legislation recommendations were provided to legislators in the Arizona State Legislature beginning in December. The first copy was provided to District 20 Senator John McComish. Senator McComish sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Subsequent copies were sent with the understanding that additional comment could be provided.
Here is a copy of that listing that was provided:
Cold Case Legislative Recommendations
For the Arizona 2011 Legislative Session
In the last year I discovered the following condition:
1. No single Arizona government agency represents and plans for the concerns of cold cases and cold case victim families.
2. No single source of data represents a final reconciled account of cold homicide and felony sexual assault cases in the state of Arizona.
3. No single responsible entity follows up with the myriad of investigative agencies currently involved in cold case investigations.
4. No single point of oversight exists to ensure that victim families are updated with the status of investigations on at least an annual basis.
5. No single point for setting training standards for the investigation of cold cases.
6. No civil remedies are developed for victims involved in cold homicide or felony sexual assault cases older than two years.
Precedents for Change
This legislation is necessary due to the previous law enforcement conditions addressed in legislation nationally known as SB1070 on illegal aliens. This piece of legislation incorporated clauses that directly addressed the inconsistent and distributed methods of law enforcement in the state of Arizona with regard to detaining and repatriating illegal aliens. In doing so and to overcome individual law enforcement agency isolated abilities to elect to not enforce laws SB1070 provided for methods for holding law enforcement officers accountable for failure to enforce the law and methods for implementation and training of the law itself. This is the first law in Arizona that overrules optional and preferential law enforcement in Arizona.
1. New Law:
Create under Title 41, Chapter 41 Homeland Security, Article 1 General Provisions a separate division named the Violent Crimes Division.
Empower that division with planning, compliance, standards development, and assessment of efforts to prevent, order implementation of new efforts, investigate, prosecute, recommend new laws, and assert victim rights in the cases of homicide and felony sexual assault.
2. Specific Legislative Issues:
Legislative Issues: Issues for the 2011 legislature are being requested at this website. We have several already:
right to file civil suits against perpetrators up to 55 years after reporting the capital crime to police (11/2009, per NOVA Conference)
1. meeting with police investigators once a year after the third anniversary of a failure to indict in a homicide or felony sexual assault (12/2007 per queries arising from 2007 Arizona Attorney General's Cold Case Task Force testimony provided through the Victim Subcommittee)
2. amend Title 13 Sections 701 and 751 to include self surrender or failure as mitigating or aggravating sentencing factors especially in the areas of homicide, felony sexual assault, cold cases, abetting an escape, failure to report escape preparations, abetting an escape during which a homicide or a sexual felony assault occurs, and escape from prison. (New per Sousa Case, 7/12/2010, per ADC 3 Inmate escape in Mohave County)
3. amend Title 15, Chapter 7, Article 1 to include: 15-721 Arizona Criminal Justice Systems; crimes, criminals, and victims All school districts with existing government education curricula shall include instruction on the laws relating to criminal conduct, crimes, and victim rights with a minor for pupils in grades seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven and twelve. Each school district may develop its own course of study to meet the requirements of this section. (New 7/21/2010, per statistics on ages of criminals)
4. amend Title 11-597 on medical examiner death investigations to ensure that (1) death investigations entail with current technologies; (2) allow for review and revisiting death investigations and widening conditions for revisiting and review consistent with determining if new and viable evidence has been discovered or is present but not included in the most recent death investigation; and (3) when a case goes cold that annual reviews be held. (New 7/28/2010 per inquiries about a withdrawn prosecution)
5. amend Title 11-597 on medical examiner death investigations to ensure that the death investigation with a finding of homicide is annotated as to whether the case has resulted in: a report being sent and received by the corresponding investigative agency, a criminal indictment, and a determination of guilt or innocence of accused person(s). (New 7/28/2010 per inquiries about a withdrawn prosecution)
6. amend Title 41, Chapter 12, Article 8 Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board to establish formal training standards and levels of certification for homicide detectives, cold case homicide detectives, and child death and homicide detectives to include reorganization of 41-1822.4.(d)-(f) as requirements for certification. (New 7/30/2010 per: (1) year old concerns about homicide and cold case detective education and training requirements, (2) a withdrawn prosecution, and (3) contributed comment on shaken baby syndrome and related national forensic death investigation symposium concerns.)
7. use of private contractors by victim families for private detection and private DNA identification with public money with an investigative plan in place to offset heavy service demands to police departments and publicly funded forensic labs. (New August 14, 2010, based on new Tempe homicides, concerns about long testing queues for rape kits, and private inquiries.)
8. support (New per 10/1/2010) changes to Title 13-815 for criminal restitution per COVIC (Commission on Victims in the Courts) review of changes to the law to have restitution begin at the time of sentencing.
9. recommendation that "cold case" status be added to the FBI UCR system (New October 25, 2010; based on Goldwater Institute issues, voluntary reporting cards to UCR system, Cassandra Castens homicide case, Puroll Shooting Case).
