Amendments for HB24-1072
House Journal, February 28
46 HB24-1072 be amended as follows, and as so amended, be referred to
47 the Committee of the Whole with favorable
48 recommendation:
49
50 Amend printed bill, page 2, after line 1 insert:
51 "SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly
52 finds that:
53 (a) Sexual violence is a significant public safety and health
54 concern in Colorado;
55
1 (b) Sexual violence has a serious long-term impact on mental and
2 physical health, resulting in trillions of dollars in costs in the United
3 States;
4 (c) According to the department of public health and environment,
5 one in three Coloradans has experienced sexual violence and eighty
6 percent of those experiences occur prior to the victim turning twenty-five.
7 Furthermore, the likelihood of experiencing sexual violence increases if
8 the person experienced sexual violence prior to the victim turning
9 eighteen.
10 (d) According to the centers for disease control and prevention in
11 the federal department of health and human services, more than one-third
12 of sexual assaults are committed by an intimate partner, leading to a
13 significant crossover of intimate partner violence and sexual violence;
14 (e) Sexual crimes are the most unreported crimes due to many
15 factors, including fear of retaliation, feelings of shame, self-blame, fear of
16 blame, fear of disbelief, fear of the criminal justice process, and complex
17 trauma caused by experiencing sexual violence committed by an intimate
18 partner or friend;
19 (f) The successful prosecution of sexual offenders is abysmally
20 low due to societal myths about sexual crimes resulting in victim blaming,
21 as well as the high rate of victims opting not to participate in the criminal
22 justice system because of a lack of protection from harassment and
23 humiliation;
24 (g) The purpose of section 18-3-407, Colorado Revised Statutes,
25 amended in this act and commonly referred to as the "rape shield statute",
26 is to protect victims and witnesses of sexual crimes from humiliation
27 caused by public disclosure of their intimate lives absent a preliminary
28 showing that evidence will be relevant and that the probative value of the
29 evidence is not substantially outweighed by the presumed prejudicial
30 impact of the evidence on the victim's or witness's privacy and to confuse
31 the issues in the case; and
32 (h) Victims and witnesses of sexual crimes should not be subjected
33 to psychological or emotional abuse in the courtroom as a price for their
34 cooperation in the prosecution, and the defendant must be provided due
35 process in defending against the allegations. Unless victims and witnesses
36 are protected from unnecessary and humiliating inquiries into their sexual
37 history, they will continue to remain silent regarding sexual abuse.
38 (2) Therefore, the general assembly declares it necessary to protect
39 victims and witnesses from irrelevant, humiliating, and degrading
40 interrogation while simultaneously protecting an accused person's right to
41 present a defense. Accordingly, section 18-3-407, Colorado Revised
42 Statutes, must be strengthened and clarified to address barriers that
43 victims face in reporting and participating in the criminal justice process.".
44
45 Renumber succeeding sections accordingly.
46
47 Page 2, line 3, strike "(1.3) and (1.7)" and substitute "(4)".
48
49 Page 2, line 6, strike "Evidence" and substitute "Evidence SUBJECT TO
50 CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS, EVIDENCE".
51
52 Page 3, strike lines 5 through 27.
53
54 Page 4, strike lines 1 through 6.
55
56 Page 5, strike lines 7 through 9 and substitute:
1 "FALSE REPORTING OF UNLAWFUL SEXUAL BEHAVIOR IS NOT
2 SUBSTANTIALLY OUTWEIGHED BY THE PRESUMPTIVE UNFAIR PREJUDICE,
3 CONFUSION OF THE ISSUES, MISLEADING OF THE JURY, OR UNFAIR INVASION
4 OF THE PRIVACY OF THE VICTIM OR WITNESS.".
5
6 Page 5, strike lines 13 through 21 and substitute:
7 "ALSO ARTICULATE FACTS THAT WOULD, BY A PREPONDERANCE OF THE
8 EVIDENCE, DEMONSTRATE THAT THE VICTIM OR WITNESS HAS MADE A
9 REPORT OF SEXUAL ASSAULT THAT WAS DEMONSTRABLY FALSE OR FALSE
10 IN FACT PRIOR TO OR SUBSEQUENT TO THE ALLEGED OFFENSE.".
11
12 Page 5, strike line 27, and substitute "THE PROBATIVE VALUE OF THE
13 EVIDENCE IS NOT SUBSTANTIALLY OUTWEIGHED BY THE PROBABILITY
14 THAT ITS ADMISSION WILL CREATE UNFAIR PREJUDICE, CONFUSION OF THE
15 ISSUES, MISLEADING OF THE JURY, OR UNFAIR INVASION OF THE PRIVACY
16 OF THE VICTIM OR WITNESS, the".
17
18 Page 6, strike lines 1 and 2.
19
20 Page 6, after line 5 insert:
21 "(4) (a) EVIDENCE OF THE VICTIM'S MANNER OF DRESS OR
22 HAIRSTYLE AT THE TIME OF, PRIOR TO, OR SUBSEQUENT TO THE ALLEGED
23 OFFENSE IS NOT ADMISSIBLE AS EVIDENCE OF THE VICTIM'S CONSENT TO
24 SEXUAL CONTACT, SEXUAL PENETRATION, OR SEXUAL INTRUSION BY THE
25 DEFENDANT IN A CASE INVOLVING UNLAWFUL SEXUAL BEHAVIOR, AS
26 DEFINED IN SECTION 16-22-102 (9); AN OFFENSE DESCRIBED IN PART 4 OF
27 ARTICLE 7 OF THIS TITLE 18; OR AN ATTEMPT OR CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT
28 ANY OF THOSE OFFENSES.
29 (b) FOR PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, "MANNER OF DRESS" DOES
30 NOT MEAN:
31 (I) TESTIMONY OR PHYSICAL EVIDENCE OF THE VICTIM'S CLOTHING
32 OR ITS PHYSICAL CONDITION AT THE TIME OF, PRIOR TO, OR SUBSEQUENT
33 TO THE ALLEGED OFFENSE, OFFERED AS EVIDENCE FOR A PURPOSE OTHER
34 THAN THE VICTIM'S CONSENT; OR
35 (II) EVIDENCE OF THE VOLUNTARY OR CONSENSUAL REMOVAL OF
36 THE VICTIM'S CLOTHING.".
37
38
House Journal, March 4
40 Amendment No. 1, Judiciary Report, dated February 27, 2024, and placed
41 in member's bill file; Report also printed in House Journal, February 28,
42 2024.
43
44 Amendment No. 2, by Representative Bird:
45
46 Amend the Judiciary Committee Report, dated February 27, 2024, page
47 2, after line 26 insert:
48 "Page 4 of the bill, lines 16 and 17 strike "a history of false reporting of
49 sexual assaults" and substitute "a history of false reporting of sexual
50 assaults AT LEAST ONE INCIDENT OF FALSE REPORTING OF UNLAWFUL
51 SEXUAL BEHAVIOR PRIOR TO OR SUBSEQUENT TO THE ALLEGED
52 OFFENSE".".
53
54
1 Page 2 of the committee report, line 27, strike "7" and substitute "6".
2
3 Page 2 of the committee report, strike line 28 and substitute ""CONDUCT,
4 OR EVIDENCE THAT THE VICTIM OR WITNESS HAS AT LEAST ONE INCIDENT
5 OF FALSE REPORTING OF UNLAWFUL SEXUAL BEHAVIOR PRIOR TO OR
6 SUBSEQUENT TO THE ALLEGED OFFENSE THAT IS NOT".
7
8 Page 2 of the committee report, after line 31 insert:
9
10 "Page 5, strike lines 11 and 12 and substitute "CONCERNING AT LEAST ONE
11 INCIDENT OF FALSE REPORTING OF UNLAWFUL SEXUAL BEHAVIOR PRIOR TO
12 OR SUBSEQUENT TO THE ALLEGED OFFENSE PURSUANT TO SUBSECTION
13 (2)(a)(I) OF THIS SECTION, THE PARTY MUST".".
14
15 As amended, ordered engrossed and placed on the Calendar for Third
16 Reading and Final Passage.
17
Senate Journal, March 21
After consideration on the merits, the Committee recommends that HB24-1072 be
amended as follows, and as so amended, be referred to the Committee of the Whole with
favorable recommendation and with a recommendation that it be placed on the Consent
Calendar.
Amend reengrossed bill, page 6, line 13, strike "SEXUAL ASSAULT" and
substitute "UNLAWFUL SEXUAL BEHAVIOR".
Health &
Human
Services