California Victim Compensation Board
Open Meeting Minutes
May 19, 2022, Board Meeting
The California Victim Compensation Board (Board) convened its meeting in open session upon the call of the Chair, Gabriel Ravel, General Counsel of the Government Operations Agency, acting for, and in the absence of Amy Tong, Secretary of the Government Operations Agency, at 400 R Street, Third Floor, Room 330, Sacramento, California, on Thursday, May 19, 2022, at 10:12 a.m.
Also present were Members Diana Becton, Contra Costa County District Attorney, Shawn Silva, Deputy State Controller and Chief Counsel, acting for and in the absence of, Betty T. Yee, Controller, Executive Officer Lynda Gledhill, Chief Counsel Kim Gauthier, and Board Liaison Andrea Burrell.
Item 1. Approval of the Minutes of the March 17, 2022, Board Meeting
Member Becton moved approval of the Minutes for the March 17, 2022, Board Meeting. The motion was seconded by Member Silva. By unanimous vote, the Board approved the minutes of the March 17, 2022, Board meeting.
Item 2. Public Comment
The Board opened the meeting for public comment and Ms. Burrell reminded everyone that, consistent with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, items not on the agenda may not be discussed at this time but may be put on a future agenda. (Gov. Code, § 11125.7.)
There was no public comment.
Item 3. Executive Officer Statement
Executive Officer Gledhill updated the Board on several items:
To start, Ms. Gledhill stated how nice it is to be back together in person and thanked CalVCB technical staff who worked hard to set up the meeting so it could be done in a hybrid manner. Finally, she thanked everyone for their patience as we continue to work in this new way of doing business.
Ms. Gledhill then updated the Board on CalVCB’s budget and reported that the Governor recently released his May revision, which includes two new appropriations for CalVCB. First, the Governor proposed a three million dollar allocation from the state restitution fund to conduct a media and outreach campaign. CalVCB will use this appropriation for a strategic, three-year campaign to target underserved populations, help boost awareness of CalVCB, and connect victims with the compensation and services they need.
Ms. Gledhill indicated that CalVCB’s application numbers continue to grow and that data shows that the numbers of violent crimes are rising even faster. In the most current year, the number of applications received statewide is only 23.4 percent of the number of violent crimes reported. These numbers cause CalVCB concern that the current model of outreach, which is mainly focused on engagement with community-based organizations, law enforcement, and county services are not reaching all eligible crime victims. In addition, CalVCB knows that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an isolating effect on many people, including victims of crime, making it difficult to reach them. The proposed media campaign will help overcome traditional barriers that exist to accessing CalVCB; in addition to those created by the pandemic. CalVCB will also create a foundation for outreach that CalVCB can build off of once the campaign concludes. CalVCB expects to hire a vendor to create and execute this campaign.
The Governor also proposed spending 30 million dollars, one time from the general fund, to establish an innovative pilot grant program to provide victim services across California. For victims needing services, there are large inequities in what is available in different regions of the state. Rural areas in particular have limited access to victim services. This competitive grant program will fund local entities throughout California to fill that void; with the flexibility to do it in a way that is most practical and effective in their areas, and it would require a 20 percent match from participating entities.
These additions in the May revision are on top of what was proposed in the Governor’s January budget. Those proposals will increase CalVCB’s federal authority benefit limit to accommodate the increase in its federal Victims of Crime Act reimbursement rate. CalVCB would use this additional funding to support an increase in benefit limits for crime scene cleanup, funeral burial costs, and relocation claims. These are benefit limits that were set more than 20 years ago and have not been raised since then. It would also change the way CalVCB compensates those who have been found erroneously convicted and deserving of payment at these Board meetings. The budget proposal would allow CalVCB to pay those claims directly without going through the legislative process. It would also allocate 2.4 million dollars for CalVCB’s IT infrastructure and information security needs and, finally, it would provide CalVCB with additional funds to assist in processing an increased number of erroneous conviction claims under SB 446, which took effect January 1, 2022.
Also, we learned in the May revision that the Prop. 47 savings is greater than what was projected in January. Ten percent of the Prop. 47 savings will go toward funding Trauma Recovery Center grants, so there’s an additional 1.38 million that is being applied to the 2022 grant awards that the Board approved in March.
Ms. Gledhill also mentioned that Senate leadership has recommended enhancing CalVCB’s budget in various ways, including appropriating 115 million ongoing backfill to the restitution fund and providing 15 million dollars, one time, to increase grants for trauma recovery centers. There are several items pending in the legislature that would impact CalVCB and we look forward to seeing how things work out. We hope and expect that the final budget will allow us to do much more to help victims.
Ms. Gledhill updated the Board on the rulemaking process to revise and amend regulations governing Penal Code section 4900 claims, which the Board officially started with its approval on March 17. On March 21, we submitted the proposed regulations along with the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Initial Statement of Reasons to the Office of Administrative Law. Those documents were published on April 1 in the California Regulatory Notice Register and on our website. The 40-day public comment period ensued, spanning from April 1 to May 16. No public hearing was scheduled; none was requested. CalVCB did receive some feedback to the proposed regulations, which is under consideration, and we anticipate proposing some modifications to the proposed regulations, which would trigger another 15-day public comment period. These changes include referencing an updated version of the claim form as well as substituting the technical term of jurisdiction with its specific definition in this administrative context. CalVCB hopes to have a final version of the regulations ready to present for the Board’s approval at the July Board meeting.
Finally, Ms. Gledhill expressed her pride for CalVCB and its dedicated employees related to the recently conducted Denim Drive, which was sponsored in April to coincide with Sexual Assault Awareness Month, National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, and international Denim Day. She noted this was exciting for many reasons, one of which was that it was the first time in two years that CalVCB has been able to have an in-person commemoration or event. CalVCB staff continue to come into the office one day a week and CalVCB collected denim from them as well as from the public. On Denim Day, which was April 27, Ms. Gledhill presented WEAVE with nearly a hundred pairs of jeans. WEAVE is the primary provider of crisis intervention services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Sacramento County. WEAVE came to the CalVCB offices and picked up the jeans and then placed them for sale in their store. WEAVE used the proceeds to fund their programs.
Chairperson Ravel thanked Ms. Gledhill for the updates.
Item 4. Legislative Update
The Legislative Update was provided by Deputy Executive Officer of the External Affairs Division, Andrew LaMar.
Mr. LaMar acknowledged that several of the bills that CalVCB is following were scheduled to be heard in the Appropriations Committees. He explained that bills will either pass off the file and move to the floor, or be held in the committee. Most notably, the Senate Appropriations Committee will hear:
- SB 993 by Senator Skinner, which would make many significant changes to CalVCB’s statutes.
- SB 877, by Senator Edmund, which would authorize CalVCB to reimburse mental health providers who are licensed in states outside of California.
- SB 1468, by Senator Glazer, which is related to findings of factual innocence.
- AB 2126, by Assembly Member Flora, which would create a new program to be administered by CalVCB to compensate the family members of those who die from Fentanyl overdoses.
Additionally, SB 632 by Senator Portantino, which would appropriate funds to pay erroneous conviction claims approved by the Board was recently amended to include three claims that were approved at the March Board meeting. The bill would now appropriate 4.5 million from the general fund to pay the five claims. The bill was passed by the Appropriations Committee and is currently on the Assembly floor.
Chairperson Ravel thanked Mr. LaMar for the updates.
Item 5. Contract Update
The Contract Update was provided by Deputy Executive Officer of the Administration Division, Sarah Keck.
Ms. Keck reminded the Board that it has delegated to the Executive Officer the authority to execute contracts for the maintenance of the Board’s information technology systems, as well as contracts in an amount not to exceed $200,000. For all contracts for which the Executive Officer has delegated authority, the Executive Officer reports to the Board the substance and amount of the contract at the meeting following execution of the contract.
Ms. Keck explained the Board would consider two items for approval at the meeting. First is a contract for Two Q, Inc. doing business as JP Marketing. This contract is in the amount of $276,055. The contractor is engaged to conduct a statewide outreach campaign in consultation with community-based organizations to locate survivors of state-sponsored sterilization. This contract is specifically for sterilizations conducted pursuant to Eugenics Laws that existed in the state between 1909 and 1979 and to identify survivors of coerced sterilizations conducted in California prisons after 1979. The goal of the outreach campaign is to notify victims of the process to apply for victim compensation and the accompanying free counseling services. This contract was procured through a competitive bid and the term is from May 2022 to December 2023.
The second contract requiring action from the Board that Ms. Keck discussed is the Alliance for a Better Community contract. This contract is in the amount of $300,000 and the contractor shall conduct initial research of forced or involuntary sterilization that possibly took place until 2012 at the Los Angeles + USC Medical Center; formerly known as Los Angeles County Hospital, located in Los Angeles, California. This contract was authorized in Senate Bill 119. The contract term is from July 1, 2022, to June 31, 2024.
Chief Counsel Kim Gauthier offered clarification regarding the first contract with Two Q, Inc. and noted that that contract was not agendized for the meeting and that it was actually approved at the January Board Meeting. Ms. Gauthier further explained that, as a result, the only contract for review and consideration of the Board was the contract with the Alliance for a Better Community for $300,000 dollars.
Ms. Keck also informed the Board of contracts executed since the last Board meeting, including one contract with for Kovarus, in the amount of $96,071.65. Pursuant to this contact, the contractor shall provide support and maintenance to CalVCB’s Dell EMC Avamar System, which enables fast and efficient backup of CalVCB’s data on file share and servers; this includes Cares2 and OLA. This contract was procured through a DGS approved leveraged procurement agreement under statewide contracts and the term is March 2022, through March 2023.
Chairperson Ravel thanked Ms. Keck for her update and thanked Chief Counsel for clarifying the matters for approval.
Member Becton moved to approve the Executive Officer’s execution of the Alliance for a Better Community contract in the amount of $300,000. The motion was seconded by Member Silva. By a unanimous vote of the Board, the motion passed.
Item 6. PC 4900 Claim No. 21-ECO-13, Monica Magana
This presentation was given by Chief Counsel, Kim Gauthier. Ms. Gauthier gave a brief summary of the Penal Code section 4900 claim filed by Monica Magana.
On July 9, 2021, Ms. Magana submitted an application for compensation as an erroneously convicted person pursuant to Penal Code section 4900. The application was based on Ms. Magana’s 2018 convictions for robbery and burglary in concert, which were reversed on appeal for insufficient evidence of accomplice testimony. The Proposed Decision recommended denying the application as the Hearing Officer found that Ms. Magana had not met her burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence showing she was more likely innocent than guilty of her vacated convictions.
Throughout the proceedings, Ms. Magana represented herself. The Attorney General’s Office was represented by Deputy Attorney General Jessica Leal.
Chairperson Ravel asked that Ms. Magana address the Board first.
Ms. Magana, who appeared via conference call, stated she was falsely accused throughout her case. Based only on someone else’s testimony, she was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. She noted that during her time in prison, she paid restitution fines and fees. She expressed her belief that she should be compensated because she was released. Finally, she indicated she was trying to understand what more she needed to show to prove her innocence.
Chairperson Ravel thanked Ms. Magana for her comments.
Chairperson Ravel then asked Ms. Leal for her comments on the matter.
Ms. Jessica Leal, who appeared via conference call, responded to Ms. Magana’s reference to the restitution she paid by noting that the Penal Code section 4900 statutes limit compensation based on the time served, so restitution is outside the scope of the application. The Attorney General agreed with the proposed decision of the Hearing Officer and recommended the Board adopt the decision.
Chairperson Ravel thanked Ms. Leal for appearing before the Board.
Member Silva moved to adopt the Hearing Officer’s Proposed Decision in the Penal Code section 4900 matter of Monica Magana. The motion was seconded by Member Becton. The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of the Board and the Proposed Decision was adopted.
Item 7. PC 4900 Claim No. 22-ECO-14, Alexander Torres
This presentation was given by Chief Counsel, Kim Gauthier. Ms. Gauthier gave a brief summary of the Penal Code section 4900 claim filed by Alexander Torres.
On April 19, 2022, Alexander Torres filed an application for compensation as an erroneously convicted person pursuant to Penal Code section 4900. The application was based upon Mr. Torres’ 2001 murder conviction for which he was found factually innocent in April 2022.
As the claim is based upon a finding of factual innocence, compensation is mandated by Penal Code section 1485.55. The proposed decision of the Hearing Officer recommends compensation in the amount of $1,061,200, which represents $140 per day for each of the 7,580 days Mr. Torres was wrongfully imprisoned.
Throughout the proceedings, Mr. Torres was represented by Justin Brooks, Alexander Simpson, and Audrey McGinn with the California Innocence Project and the California Western School of Law. The Attorney General’s Office was represented by Deputy Attorney General Jessica Leal.
Chairperson Ravel asked that counsel for Mr. Torres address the Board first.
Ms. McGinn, who appeared via conference call, stated that they agreed with the proposed decision that Mr. Torres be automatically compensated.
Chairperson Ravel thanked Ms. McGinn for her comments.
Chairperson Ravel then asked if Mr. Torres would like to address the Board.
Mr. Torres, who appeared via conference call, declined to comment.
Chairperson Ravel thanked Mr. Torres for his appearance.
Chairperson Ravel then asked Ms. Leal for her comments on the matter.
Ms. Leal, who appeared via conference call, agreed that compensation should be granted.
Chairperson Ravel thanked Ms. Leal for appearing before the Board.
Member Becton moved to adopt the Hearing Officer’s Proposed Decision in the Penal Code section 4900 matter of Alexander Torres. The motion was seconded by Member Silva. The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of the Board and the Proposed Decision was adopted.
Item 8. PC 4900 Claim No. 22-ECO-06, Juan Bautista
This presentation was given by Chief Counsel, Kim Gauthier. Ms. Gauthier gave a brief summary of the Penal Code section 4900 claim filed by Juan Bautista.
On February 3, 2022, Juan Jesse Bautista filed an application for compensation as an erroneously convicted person pursuant to Penal Code section 4900. The application was based on Mr. Bautista’s 2011 convictions for attempted murder, assault with a firearm, and street terrorism. These convictions were vacated and dismissed during state habeas proceedings in June 2021.
As there was no objection filed by the Attorney General’s Office, compensation is automatic under Penal Code section 4900, subdivision (b), and the proposed decision recommends compensation of $617,680, which represents $140 per day for each of the 4,412 days Mr. Bautista was wrongfully imprisoned.
Throughout the proceedings, Mr. Bautista was represented by Saurabh Prabhakar, from the Northern California Innocence Project. The Attorney General’s Office was represented by Deputy Attorney General Ian Whitney.
Chairperson Ravel asked that counsel for Mr. Bautista address the Board first.
Mr. Prabhakar, who appeared in person, started by introducing his co-counsel from the Northern California Innocence Project, Ms. O’Connell and Mr. Roberts from the law firm of Covington & Burling. Mr. Bautista also appeared in person.
Mr. Prabhakar, continued by stating they respectfully request the Board adopt the Hearing Officer’s recommendation to approve Mr. Bautista’s request for compensation.
Chairperson Ravel thanked Mr. Prabhakar for his comments.
Chairperson Ravel then asked if Mr. Bautista would like to address the Board.
Mr. Bautista, who appeared in person, declined to comment.
Chairperson Ravel thanked Mr. Bautista for appearing before the Board.
Chairperson Ravel then asked Mr. Whitney for his comments on the matter.
Mr. Whitney, who appeared via conference call, stated the Attorney General’s Office has no objection to the request for compensation.
Chairperson Ravel thanked Mr. Whitney for appearing before the Board.
Member Silva moved to adopt the Hearing Officer’s Proposed Decision in the Penal Code section 4900 matter of Juan Bautista. The motion was seconded by Member Becton. The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of the Board and the Proposed Decision was adopted.
Item 9. PC 4900 Claim No. 22-ECO-05, Zavion Johnson
This presentation was given by Chief Counsel, Kim Gauthier. Ms. Gauthier gave a brief summary of the Penal Code section 4900 claim filed by Zavion Johnson.
On January 31, 2022, Zavion Johnson filed an application for compensation as an erroneously convicted person pursuant to Penal Code section 4900. The application was based upon Mr. Johnson’s 2002 convictions for murder and assault of a child resulting in death. Those convictions were vacated and dismissed during a state habeas proceeding in December 2017.
As there was no objection filed by the Office of the Attorney General, compensation is automatic under Penal Code section 4900, subdivision (b). The proposed decision recommends compensation of $818,720, which represents $140 per day for each of the 5,848 days Mr. Johnson was wrongfully imprisoned.
Throughout the proceedings, Mr. Johnson was represented by Supervising Attorney Paige Kaneb, of the Northern California Innocence Project. The Attorney General’s Office was represented by Deputy Attorney General Jack Merritt.
Chairperson Ravel asked that counsel for Mr. Johnson address the Board first.
Ms. Kaneb, who appeared in person, stated that there was never a crime committed in this case and at 18-years-old, Mr. Johnson was sentenced to life in prison and sent to a maximum-security facility. The state, including the District Attorney’s Office, recognized that he had been wrongfully convicted and dismissed the charges. Ms. Kaneb expressed her appreciation for the proposed decision and the Attorney General’s recognition that this was not a case that should be opposed. Finally, she respectfully requested that the Board adopt the proposed decision and thanked everyone for their part in this.
Chairperson Ravel thanked Ms. Kaneb for her comments.
Chairperson Ravel then asked if Mr. Johnson would like to address the Board himself.
Mr. Johnson, who appeared in person, declined to comment.
Chairperson Ravel thanked Mr. Johnson for his appearance before the Board.
Chairperson Ravel then asked Mr. Merritt for his comments on the matter.
Mr. Merritt, who appeared via conference call, had no objection to the proposed decision.
Chairperson Ravel thanked Mr. Merritt for appearing before the Board.
Member Silva moved to adopt the Hearing Officer’s Proposed Decision in the Penal Code section 4900 matter of Zavion Johnson. The motion was seconded by Member Becton. The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of the Board and the Proposed Decision was adopted.
Closed Session
Pursuant to Government Code section 11126 (a), the Board adjourned into Closed Session with the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Counsel at 10:32 a.m. pursuant to Government Code section 11126, subdivision (c)(3) to deliberate on proposed decision numbers 1A-105 of the Victim Compensation Program.
Open Session
The Board reconvened in Open Session pursuant to Government Code sections 11126(a) and 11126(c)(3) at 10:46 a.m.
Member Becton to approve items 1A through 105, and to adopt proposed decision numbers 1A-105, with the exception of item number 5 of the Victim Compensation Program, which was removed from the agenda. Member Silva seconded the motion. The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of the Board and the proposed decision were adopted.
Adjournment
Member Becton moved adjournment of the May Board meeting. Member Silva seconded the motion. The motion was adopted by a unanimous vote of the Board and the meeting was adjourned at 10:47 a.m.
Next Board Meeting
The next Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 21, 2022.