RECORDED WITNESS STATEMENTS S.B. 813 (S-2):

SUMMARY OF BILL

REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Senate Bill 813 (Substitute S-2 as reported)

Sponsor: Senator John Cherry

Committee: Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety

 


CONTENT

 

The bill would amend the Revised Judicature Act to do the following:

 

--   Modify the purposes for which a videorecorded witness statement could be used in court proceedings, including allowing the use as evidence in a trial.

--   Require a court to provide the defense with a transcript of the videorecorded statement within 10 days of the defendant's trial or pretrial, subject to any protective conditions.

--   Require a court order to give the defense a copy of a videorecorded statement upon request and to specify who could view or use the videorecorded witness statement, among other protective conditions.

--   Increase the penalty for unauthorized disclosure of a videorecorded statement.

--   Require that videorecorded statements adhere to Forensic Interview Protocols under the Child Protection Law.

 

The bill would take effect 180 days after its enactment.

 

BRIEF RATIONALE

 

Generally, certain videorecorded statements may be considered in court proceedings for impeachment purposes and cannot be used at a preliminary examination instead of live witness testimony. According to testimony before the Senate Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety, requiring an alleged victim who is under the age of 16, who is developmentally disabled, or who is a vulnerable adult to testify in person during proceedings may distress or retraumatize that individual unnecessarily. It has been suggested to allow a videorecorded statement of those individuals to be used as evidence during a trial under certain circumstances.

 

MCL 600.2163a Legislative Analyst: Eleni Lionas

 

FISCAL IMPACT

 

The proposed provisions to increase the incarceration time from a maximum of 93 days to one year and increase the maximum fine amount from $500 to $2,500 could have an indeterminate negative fiscal impact and an indeterminate positive fiscal impact on State and local government. The increase in the incarceration time under the bill could increase resource demands on law enforcement, court systems, community supervision, and jails; however, it is unknown how many people would be prosecuted under the bill's provisions. Local jail costs vary by jurisdiction and thus costs for local governments would vary. Local revenue to local libraries could increase under the bill as any additional revenue from imposed fines would go to local libraries. The bill would have no fiscal impact on the Department of Health and Human Services or State or local courts.

 

Date Completed: 10-29-24 Fiscal Analyst: Humphrey Akujobi

Joe Carrasco, Jr.; Michael Siracuse

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.