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2020 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Judiciary
Subcommittee Criminal Law

Deeds (Chair), Saslaw, McDougle, Stuart, Stanley, Morrissey, McClellan

Clerk: John Garrett, Alec Fischbein
Staff: Kristen Walsh, C. Quagliato
Date of Meeting: February 4, 2020
Time and Place: 5:00 pm - Subcommittee Room 3, 5th Fl. Pocahontas Bldg.

S.B. 489

Patron: Surovell

Authority to defer and dismiss a criminal case. Provides that a trial court presiding in a criminal case may, after any plea or trial, and with or without a determination of guilt, upon its own motion with the consent of the defendant or with the agreement of the defendant and the Commonwealth, defer proceedings or defer entry of a final order of guilt and place the defendant under probation to comply with reasonable terms and conditions as specified by the court that shall include probation and either (i) conviction of the original charge, (ii) conviction of an alternative charge, or (iii) dismissal of the proceedings. The bill provides that upon completion of such terms and conditions that court shall adjudicate the matter consistent with those terms and conditions. The bill also defines good cause for purposes of a nolle prosequi.

S.B. 625

Patron: Surovell

Failure to advise of consequences of guilty plea; vacation of conviction. Creates a mechanism for a person who is not a citizen of the United States to vacate a criminal conviction or adjudication of delinquency, other than for a violent felony or an offense that requires sex offender registration, if such person was not advised of the possible adverse consequences of such conviction or adjudication on his immigration status (i) for any conviction of such offense entered on or before July 1, 2019, or (ii) if the petitioner received actual notice that he is subject to deportation or removal from the United States, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization under federal law as a result of entering a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to such offense and such petition is filed within one year after receiving such notice. The bill provides that such person may file a petition with the appropriate circuit court, which may hold a hearing on the petition and either dismiss the petition or vacate the person's conviction or adjudication and order a retrial. The bill also provides that only one such petition may be filed.

S.B. 806

Patron: Morrissey

Ex parte requests for investigative services or expert assistance in noncapital cases. Allows a defendant or his attorney, when such defendant is charged with a noncapital offense and is financially unable to pay for investigative services or expert assistance, to move a court to conduct an ex parte hearing on a request for such services or assistance. For a motion for investigative services, the bill requires a defendant or his attorney to state under oath or in a sworn declaration that a need for confidentiality exists regarding the request for investigative services and, after a hearing upon the motion, the court shall authorize the defendant or his attorney to obtain investigative services upon a showing that the requested services would materially assist the defendant and are necessary in order to guarantee an adequate defense and that the lack of such confidential services would result in a fundamentally unfair trial. For a motion for expert assistance, the bill requires a defendant or his attorney to show, in an adversarial proceeding before the trial judge, a particularized need for confidentiality of the request for expert assistance. Upon a finding, by clear and convincing evidence, that a particularized need for confidentiality of the expert services exists, the court shall hold an ex parte hearing and may order the appointment of a qualified expert upon a showing that the provision of the requested expert services would materially assist the defendant in preparing his defense and the lack of such confidential assistance would result in a fundamentally unfair trial.

 

S.B. 811

Patron: Morrissey

Sentencing in a criminal case; bifurcated jury trial. Provides that in cases of trial by jury in which the charged offense is not punishable by death and in which a defendant has testified in his case-in-chief, a jury shall render its verdict and its recommended sentence, if applicable, at the same time.