Restitution for crime victims.

Existing law requires the court to order a person who is convicted of a crime to pay a restitution fine, as prescribed, and restitution to the victim or victims for the full amount of economic loss, unless the court finds compelling and extraordinary reasons for not doing so and states those reasons on the record. Existing law requires every employer except the state to secure the payment of compensation by being insured against liability, or by securing a certificate of consent to self-insure. Under existing law, payment, in whole or in part, of compensation by either the employer or the insurer is a bar to recovery against each of them of the amount paid. This bill would prohibit, in cases where an employer is convicted of a crime against an employee, a payment to the employee or the employee's dependent that is made by the employer's workers' compensation insurance carrier from being used to offset the restitution owed to the victim unless the court finds that the defendant substantially met the obligation to pay premiums for that insurance coverage. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1202.4 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 1479, to become operative only if SB 1479 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2013, and this bill is chaptered last.