Bill > S264

Introduced Session

In 1987, Lawrence Singleton's parole from a California prison made national headlines; he had served eight years of a fourteen-year sentence for the vicious rape and mutilation of a 15-year-old hitchhiker. After the rape, Singleton had hacked off his victim's arms with an ax and left her to die, but she survived to testify against him. Despite the public outcry against Singleton's release, officials were powerless to stop it, since he had served his sentence under the California law in effect at the time. In February, 1997, Singleton was arrested again, this time for the murder of a woman in his home. This bill is intended to prevent brutal attackers such as Singleton from ever getting a second chance to claim another victim. The bill would require that any person who commits a violent sexual assault would be required to serve a life sentence, without possibility for parole. The life sentence would be imposed on any person convicted of aggravated sexual assault upon a victim who suffers serious bodily injury. Under the Criminal Code, "serious bodily injury" is defined as "bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ."

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Christopher Connors (R)*,  Anthony Bucco (R), 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee (on 01/12/2016)