Senate committee OKs bill that would give sexual assault victims immunity from drug, alcohol charges

A state Senate committee on Friday advanced a bill that would give sexual assault victims and witnesses immunity from prosecution if they possessed or illegally used drugs or alcohol at the time of the assault — a key step that will send the bill to the Senate floor for a vote.

The Senate Public Safety Committee unanimously supported Assembly Bill 1927. Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath, who represents the 76th District, which includes Carlsbad, Oceanside, Encinitas and Vista, authored the bill.

"We all know too well that sexual assault is the most underreported violent crime in America," Boerner Horvath said in a statement. "Many victims and survivors do not come forward for fear of retaliation, even fear of being blamed for the assault. This bill will empower them to report the abuse without fear of prosecution."

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 80 percent of sexual assault victims who are college students don't report the assaults, while 67 percent of sexual assaults against victims who are not students go unreported.

State law allows courts to consider immunity for victims and witnesses of crimes if they testify. Supporters of the bill, which include San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan, say the process subjects victims of sexual assault to more trauma.

"The last thing we want is for the criminal justice system to re-victimize people who bravely come forward to report crimes," Stephan said Friday in a statement. "We can't continue to have a system which treats victims like criminals for using the very same drugs or alcohol which often are fueling their abusers' crimes."

The bill states that immunity given to victims or witnesses who possessed or illegally used drugs or alcohol at the time of a sexual assault would not be excluded from the trial.

The Senate is expected to consider the bill in August.

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