BILL NUMBER: AB 686	CHAPTERED  07/27/07

	CHAPTER  137
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 27, 2007
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  JULY 27, 2007
	PASSED THE SENATE  JULY 16, 2007
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  MAY 10, 2007
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 26, 2007

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gaines

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2007

   An act to amend Section 707 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to minors.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 686, Gaines. Minors: fitness hearing.
   Existing law, enacted by initiative statute, establishes the
criteria by which the juvenile court may find that certain minors,
including a person who has committed one of specified violent
offenses when he or she was 16 years of age or older, 2 or more
felony offenses under certain circumstances, or specified violent
offenses at 14 years of age or older under certain circumstances, are
unfit for treatment in juvenile court. Existing law authorizes the
district attorney to file an accusatory pleading in a court of
criminal jurisdiction against those minors, including, among others,
a minor 14 years of age or older who is alleged to have personally
used a firearm during the commission or attempted commission of a
felony, as described in a specified provision. The initiative statute
provides that any amendment of its provisions requires a 2/3 vote of
the membership of each house of the Legislature.
   This bill would clarify that the personal use of a firearm during
the commission or attempted commission of a felony includes, for
purposes of the above provisions, certain felonies that are
enumerated in a separate provision. The bill would correct an
obsolete cross-reference and make other technical, nonsubstantive
changes to those provisions.
   Because the bill would amend an initiative statute, it would
require a 2/3 vote.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 707 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   707.  (a) (1) In any case in which a minor is alleged to be a
person described in subdivision (a) of Section 602 by reason of the
violation, when he or she was 16 years of age or older, of any
criminal statute or ordinance except those listed in subdivision (b),
upon motion of the petitioner made prior to the attachment of
jeopardy the court shall cause the probation officer to investigate
and submit a report on the behavioral patterns and social history of
the minor being considered for a determination of unfitness.
Following submission and consideration of the report, and of any
other relevant evidence that the petitioner or the minor may wish to
submit, the juvenile court may find that the minor is not a fit and
proper subject to be dealt with under the juvenile court law if it
concludes that the minor would not be amenable to the care,
treatment, and training program available through the facilities of
the juvenile court, based upon an evaluation of the following
criteria:
   (A) The degree of criminal sophistication exhibited by the minor.
   (B) Whether the minor can be rehabilitated prior to the expiration
of the juvenile court's jurisdiction.
   (C) The minor's previous delinquent history.
   (D) Success of previous attempts by the juvenile court to
rehabilitate the minor.
   (E) The circumstances and gravity of the offense alleged in the
petition to have been committed by the minor.
   A determination that the minor is not a fit and proper subject to
be dealt with under the juvenile court law may be based on any one or
a combination of the factors set forth above, which shall be recited
in the order of unfitness. In any case in which a hearing has been
noticed pursuant to this section, the court shall postpone the taking
of a plea to the petition until the conclusion of the fitness
hearing, and no plea that may already have been entered shall
constitute evidence at the hearing.
   (2) (A) This paragraph shall apply to a minor alleged to be a
person described in Section 602 by reason of the violation, when he
or she has attained 16 years of age, of any felony offense when the
minor has been declared to be a ward of the court pursuant to Section
602 on one or more prior occasions if both of the following apply:
   (i) The minor has previously been found to have committed two or
more felony offenses.
   (ii) The offenses upon which the prior petition or petitions were
based were committed when the minor had attained 14 years of age.
   (B) Upon motion of the petitioner made prior to the attachment of
jeopardy the court shall cause the probation officer to investigate
and submit a report on the behavioral patterns and social history of
the minor being considered for a determination of unfitness.
Following submission and consideration of the report, and of any
other relevant evidence that the petitioner or the minor may wish to
submit, the minor shall be presumed to be not a fit and proper
subject to be dealt with under the juvenile court law unless the
juvenile court concludes, based upon evidence, which evidence may be
of extenuating or mitigating circumstances, that the minor would be
amenable to the care, treatment, and training program available
through the facilities of the juvenile court based upon an evaluation
of the following criteria:
   (i) The degree of criminal sophistication exhibited by the minor.
   (ii) Whether the minor can be rehabilitated prior to the
expiration of the juvenile court's jurisdiction.
   (iii) The minor's previous delinquent history.
   (iv) Success of previous attempts by the juvenile court to
rehabilitate the minor.
   (v) The circumstances and gravity of the offense alleged in the
petition to have been committed by the minor.
   A determination that the minor is a fit and proper subject to be
dealt with under the juvenile court law shall be based on a finding
of amenability after consideration of the criteria set forth above,
and findings therefore recited in the order as to each of the above
criteria that the minor is fit and proper under each and every one of
the above criteria. In making a finding of fitness, the court may
consider extenuating and mitigating circumstances in evaluating each
of the above criteria. In any case in which the hearing has been
noticed pursuant to this section, the court shall postpone the taking
of a plea to the petition until the conclusion of the fitness
hearing and no plea which may already have been entered shall
constitute evidence at the hearing. If the minor is found to be a fit
and proper subject to be dealt with under the juvenile court law
pursuant to this subdivision, the minor shall be committed to
placement in a juvenile hall, ranch camp, forestry camp, boot camp,
or secure juvenile home pursuant to Section 730, or in any
institution operated by the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Facilities.
   (3) If, pursuant to this subdivision, the minor is found to be not
a fit and proper subject for juvenile court treatment and is tried
in a court of criminal jurisdiction and found guilty by the trier of
fact, the judge may commit the minor to the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Facilities, in lieu of
sentencing the minor to the state prison, unless the limitations
specified in Section 1732.6 apply.
   (b) Subdivision (c) shall be applicable in any case in which a
minor is alleged to be a person described in Section 602 by reason of
the violation of one of the following offenses:
   (1) Murder.
   (2) Arson, as provided in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 451 of
the Penal Code.
   (3) Robbery.
   (4) Rape with force, violence, or threat of great bodily harm.
   (5) Sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat of great
bodily harm.
   (6) Lewd or lascivious act as provided in subdivision (b) of
Section 288 of the Penal Code.
   (7) Oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat
of great bodily harm.
   (8) Any offense specified in subdivision (a) of Section 289 of the
Penal Code.
   (9) Kidnapping for ransom.
   (10) Kidnapping for purpose of robbery.
   (11) Kidnapping with bodily harm.
   (12) Attempted murder.
   (13) Assault with a firearm or destructive device.
   (14) Assault by any means of force likely to produce great bodily
injury.
   (15) Discharge of a firearm into an inhabited or occupied
building.
   (16) Any offense described in Section 1203.09 of the Penal Code.
   (17) Any offense described in Section 12022.5 or 12022.53 of the
Penal Code.
   (18) Any felony offense in which the minor personally used a
weapon listed in subdivision (a) of Section 12020 of the Penal Code.
   (19) Any felony offense described in Section 136.1 or 137 of the
Penal Code.
   (20) Manufacturing, compounding, or selling one-half ounce or more
of any salt or solution of a controlled substance specified in
subdivision (e) of Section 11055 of the Health and Safety Code.
   (21) Any violent felony, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section
667.5 of the Penal Code, which would also constitute a felony
violation of subdivision (b) of Section 186.22 of the Penal Code.
   (22) Escape, by the use of force or violence, from any county
juvenile hall, home, ranch, camp, or forestry camp in violation of
subdivision (b) of Section 871 where great bodily injury is
intentionally inflicted upon an employee of the juvenile facility
during the commission of the escape.
   (23) Torture as described in Sections 206 and 206.1 of the Penal
Code.
   (24) Aggravated mayhem, as described in Section 205 of the Penal
Code.
   (25) Carjacking, as described in Section 215 of the Penal Code,
while armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon.
   (26) Kidnapping for purposes of sexual assault, as punishable in
subdivision (b) of Section 209 of the Penal Code.
   (27) Kidnapping, as punishable in Section 209.5 of the Penal Code.

   (28) The offense described in subdivision (c) of Section 12034 of
the Penal Code.
   (29) The offense described in Section 12308 of the Penal Code.
   (30) Voluntary manslaughter, as described in subdivision (a) of
Section 192 of the Penal Code.
   (c) With regard to a minor alleged to be a person described in
Section 602 by reason of the violation, when he or she was 14 years
of age or older, of any of the offenses listed in subdivision (b),
upon motion of the petitioner made prior to the attachment of
jeopardy the court shall cause the probation officer to investigate
and submit a report on the behavioral patterns and social history of
the minor being considered for a determination of unfitness.
Following submission and consideration of the report, and of any
other relevant evidence that the petitioner or the minor may wish to
submit, the minor shall be presumed to be not a fit and proper
subject to be dealt with under the juvenile court law unless the
juvenile court concludes, based upon evidence, which evidence may be
of extenuating or mitigating circumstances, that the minor would be
amenable to the care, treatment, and training program available
through the facilities of the juvenile court based upon an evaluation
of each of the following criteria:
   (1) The degree of criminal sophistication exhibited by the minor.
   (2) Whether the minor can be rehabilitated prior to the expiration
of the juvenile court's jurisdiction.
   (3) The minor's previous delinquent history.
   (4) Success of previous attempts by the juvenile court to
rehabilitate the minor.
   (5) The circumstances and gravity of the offenses alleged in the
petition to have been committed by the minor.
   A determination that the minor is a fit and proper subject to be
dealt with under the juvenile court law shall be based on a finding
of amenability after consideration of the criteria set forth above,
and findings therefore recited in the order as to each of the above
criteria that the minor is fit and proper under each and every one of
the above criteria. In making a finding of fitness, the court may
consider extenuating or mitigating circumstances in evaluating each
of the above criteria. In any case in which a hearing has been
noticed pursuant to this section, the court shall postpone the taking
of a plea to the petition until the conclusion of the fitness
hearing and no plea which may already have been entered shall
constitute evidence at the hearing. If, pursuant to this subdivision,
the minor is found to be not a fit and proper subject for juvenile
court treatment and is tried in a court of criminal jurisdiction and
found guilty by the trier of fact, the judge may commit the minor to
the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of
Juvenile Facilities, in lieu of sentencing the minor to the state
prison, unless the limitations specified in Section 1732.6 apply.
   (d) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 602, the
district attorney or other appropriate prosecuting officer may file
an accusatory pleading in a court of criminal jurisdiction against
any minor 16 years of age or older who is accused of committing an
offense enumerated in subdivision (b).
   (2) Except as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 602, the
district attorney or other appropriate prosecuting officer may file
an accusatory pleading against a minor 14 years of age or older in a
court of criminal jurisdiction in any case in which any one or more
of the following circumstances apply:
   (A) The minor is alleged to have committed an offense that if
committed by an adult would be punishable by death or imprisonment in
the state prison for life.
   (B) The minor is alleged to have personally used a firearm during
the commission or attempted commission of a felony, as described in
Section 12022.5 or 12022.53 of the Penal Code.
   (C) The minor is alleged to have committed an offense listed in
subdivision (b) in which any one or more of the following
circumstances apply:
   (i) The minor has previously been found to be a person described
in Section 602 by reason of the commission of an offense listed in
subdivision (b).
   (ii) The offense was committed for the benefit of, at the
direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang, as
defined in subdivision (f) of Section 186.22 of the Penal Code, with
the specific intent to promote, further, or assist in any criminal
conduct by gang members.
   (iii) The offense was committed for the purpose of intimidating or
interfering with any other person's free exercise or enjoyment of
any right secured to him or her by the Constitution or laws of this
state or by the Constitution or laws of the United States and because
of the other person's race, color, religion, ancestry, national
origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation, or because the
minor perceives that the other person has one or more of those
characteristics, as described in Title 11.6 (commencing with Section
422.6) of Part 1 of the Penal Code.
   (iv) The victim of the offense was 65 years of age or older, or
blind, deaf, quadriplegic, paraplegic, developmentally disabled, or
confined to a wheelchair, and that disability was known or reasonably
should have been known to the minor at the time of the commission of
the offense.
   (3) Except as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 602, the
district attorney or other appropriate prosecuting officer may file
an accusatory pleading in a court of criminal jurisdiction against
any minor 16 years of age or older who is accused of committing one
or more of the following offenses, if the minor has previously been
found to be a person described in Section 602 by reason of the
violation of any felony offense, when he or she was 14 years of age
or older:
   (A) Any felony offense in which it is alleged that the victim of
the offense was 65 years of age or older, or blind, deaf,
quadriplegic, paraplegic, developmentally disabled, or confined to a
wheelchair, and that disability was known or reasonably should have
been known to the minor at the time of the commission of the offense.

   (B) Any felony offense committed for the purposes of intimidating
or interfering with any other person's free exercise or enjoyment of
any right secured to him or her by the Constitution or laws of this
state or by the Constitution or laws of the United States and because
of the other person's race, color, religion, ancestry, national
origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation, or because the
minor perceived that the other person had one or more of those
characteristics, as described in Title 11.6 (commencing with Section
422.6) of Part 1 of the Penal Code.
   (C) The offense was committed for the benefit of, at the direction
of, or in association with any criminal street gang as prohibited by
Section 186.22 of the Penal Code.
   (4) In any case in which the district attorney or other
appropriate prosecuting officer has filed an accusatory pleading
against a minor in a court of criminal jurisdiction pursuant to this
subdivision, the case shall then proceed according to the laws
applicable to a criminal case. In conjunction with the preliminary
hearing as provided in Section 738 of the Penal Code, the magistrate
shall make a finding that reasonable cause exists to believe that the
minor comes within this subdivision. If reasonable cause is not
established, the criminal court shall transfer the case to the
juvenile court having jurisdiction over the matter.
   (5) For any offense for which the prosecutor may file the
accusatory pleading in a court of criminal jurisdiction pursuant to
this subdivision, but elects instead to file a petition in the
juvenile court, if the minor is subsequently found to be a person
described in subdivision (a) of Section 602, the minor shall be
committed to placement in a juvenile hall, ranch camp, forestry camp,
boot camp, or secure juvenile home pursuant to Section 730, or in
any institution operated by the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Facilities.
   (6) If, pursuant to this subdivision, the minor is found to be not
a fit and proper subject for juvenile court treatment and is tried
in a court of criminal jurisdiction and found guilty by the trier of
fact, the judge may commit the minor to the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Facilities, in lieu of
sentencing the minor to the state prison, unless the limitations
specified in Section 1732.6 apply.
   (e) Any report submitted by a probation officer pursuant to this
section regarding the behavioral patterns and social history of the
minor being considered for a determination of unfitness shall include
any written or oral statement offered by the victim, the victim's
parent or guardian if the victim is a minor, or if the victim has
died, the victim's next of kin, as authorized by subdivision (b) of
Section 656.2. Victims' statements shall be considered by the court
to the extent they are relevant to the court's determination of
unfitness.