Military personnel: veterans: sentencing: mitigating circumstances.

Existing law requires the court, in the case of any person convicted of a criminal offense who could otherwise be sentenced to county jail or state prison and who alleges that he or she committed the offense as a result of sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or mental health problems stemming from service in the United States military, to make a determination, prior to sentencing, as to whether the defendant was, or currently is, a member of the United States military and whether the defendant may be suffering from sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or mental health problems as a result of that service. If the court concludes that the defendant is one of the persons described above, and if the defendant is otherwise eligible for probation and the court places the defendant on probation, the court is authorized to order the defendant into a local, state, federal, or private nonprofit treatment program for a period not to exceed that period which the defendant would have served in state prison or county jail, provided the defendant agrees to participate in the program and the court determines that an appropriate treatment program exists. This bill would additionally require the court to consider its conclusion that a defendant eligible for probation was, or currently is, a member of the United States military and that the defendant may be suffering from sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or mental health problems as a result of that service as a factor in favor of granting probation. Existing law provides that specified felonies are punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years or, where the term is specified, for the term described in the underlying offense. When a judgment of imprisonment is to be imposed and the statute specifies 3 possible terms, the choice of the appropriate term rests within the sound discretion of the court. This bill would require the court, if it concludes that a defendant convicted of a felony offense is, or was, a member of the United States military who may be suffering from sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or mental health problems as a result of his or her military service, to consider those circumstances as a factor in mitigation when imposing a term pursuant to the above provisions. The bill would provide that this consideration does not preclude the court from considering similar trauma, injury, substance abuse, or mental health due to other causes as evidence or factors in mitigation.