BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 451| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 451 Author: Portantino (D) Amended: 8/20/10 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/22/10 AYES: Leno, Cogdill, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg, Wright SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not relevant SUBJECT : Trespass: unauthorized entry of an event closed to the public SOURCE : Screen Actors Guild DIGEST : This bill defines a new form of trespass that is committed where a person, without authorization, knowingly enters or remains at an event that is closed to the public under circumstances where a reasonable notice of restricted access ahs been posted. Senate Floor Amendments of 8/20/10 add chaptering amendments to protect this bill, AB 2324 (Perez), AB 1675 (Hagman), and AB 668 (Lieu), and (2) add substantive amendments to narrow the new form of trespass defined by this bill. CONTINUED AB 451 Page 2 ANALYSIS : Existing law includes numerous provisions defining various forms of trespass and applicable penalties. Crime definitions and penalties typically turn on whether any damage has been done to property and whether the trespasser refuses a valid request to leave the land. (Penal Code Section 602-607.) Existing law provides that any person is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a county jail term of up to six months, a fine of up to $1000 or both, who enters any other persons cultivated or fenced land, or who enters uncultivated or unenclosed lands where signs forbidding trespass are displayed at intervals not less than three to the mile along exterior boundaries and at all roads and trails entering the lands without written permission, and does any of the following: 1. Refuses or fails to leave immediately upon being requested to do so by the owner, owner's agent or by the person in lawful possession. 2. Tears down, mutilates, or destroys any sign or notice forbidding trespass or hunting 3. Removes or tampers with any lock on any gate on or leading into the lands. 4. Discharges a firearm. (Penal Code Section 602, subdivision (k).) Existing law generally provides that a person commits one form of trespass to cultivated, fenced or posted land, where he or she, without the written permission of the landowner, the owner's agent or of the person in lawful possession of the land: 1. Willfully enters any lands under cultivation or enclosed by fence, belonging to, or occupied by another person. 2. Willfully enters upon uncultivated or unenclosed lands where signs forbidding trespass are displayed at intervals not less than three to the mile along all exterior boundaries and at all roads and trails entering the lands. (Penal Code Section 602.8, subdivision (a).) CONTINUED AB 451 Page 3 Existing law provides that trespassing - in circumstances other than where the person refuses a valid order to leave the premises, destroys a no-trespassing or no-hunting sign, tampers with any lock, or discharges a firearm, is an infraction or a misdemeanor, as follows: 1. First offense is an infraction, punishable by a fine of $75. (Penal Code Section 602.8, subdivision (b)(1).) 2. Second offense on any contiguous land of the same owner is an infraction, punishable by a fine of $250. (Penal Code Section 602.8, subdivision (b)(2).) 3. A third or subsequent offense on any contiguous land of the same owner is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months; by a fine not to exceed $1000; or both. (Penal Code Section 602.8, subdivision (b)(3).) Existing law includes the following exceptions to the trespassing law in Section 602.8: 1. A person who is conducting lawful union activities. 2. A person who is on the premises and engaging in activities protected by the California or United States Constitution. 3. A person making lawful service of process. 4. An appropriately licensed person engaged in land surveying. Existing law states that it is a misdemeanor punishable by six months in county jail for every person who willfully enters any lands under cultivation or enclosed by fence, belonging to, or occupied by, another, or entering upon uncultivated or unenclosed lands where signs forbidding trespass are displayed at intervals not less than three to the mile along all exterior boundaries and at all roads and trails entering the lands without the written permission of the owner of the land, the owner's agent or of the person in lawful possession and: CONTINUED AB 451 Page 4 1. Refuses or fails to leave the lands immediately upon being requested by the owner of the land, the owner's agent or by the person in lawful possession to leave the lands; 2. Tears down, mutilates, or destroys any sign, signboard, or notice forbidding trespass or hunting on the lands; 3. Removes, injures, unlocks, or tampers with any lock on any gate on or leading into the lands. 4. Discharges any firearm. (Penal Code Section 602, subdivision (l).) Existing law provides that any person who willfully enters and occupies real property or structures of any kind without the consent of the owner, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession, is guilty of a misdemeanor. (Penal Code Section 602, subdivision (m).) Existing law allows for prosecution against those who refuse or fail to leave land, real property, or structures belonging to or lawfully occupied by another and not open to the general public, upon being requested to leave by a peace officer at the request of the owner, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession, and upon being informed by the peace officer that he or she is acting at the request of the owner, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession or the owner, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession. (Penal Code Section 602, subdivision (o).) Existing law provides that any person who, without the written permission of the landowner, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession of the land, willfully enters any lands under cultivation or enclosed by a fence, belonging to, or occupied by, another, or who willfully enters upon uncultivated or unenclosed lands where signs forbidding trespass are displayed at intervals not less than three to the mile along all exterior boundaries and at all roads and trials entering lands, is guilty of a public offense punishable as follows: 1. A first offense is an infraction punishable by a fine of CONTINUED AB 451 Page 5 $75. 2. A second offense is an infraction punishable by a fine of $250. 3. A third or subsequent offense is a misdemeanor. (Penal Code Section 602.8.) This bill defines a new form of trespass that is committed where a person knowingly enters or remains at an event not open to the general public without authorization from the person lawfully in possession of the property, if the area has been posted so as to give reasonable notice restricting access to authorized guests and persons with lawful business therein. Reasonable notice is that which would give actual notice to a reasonable person, and is posted at each authorized entrance. This bill makes it a trespass to knowingly enter an annual event that is televised live and not open to the general public, without authorization from the person lawfully in possession of the property, if the area has been posted so as to give reasonable notice restricting access, as specified. This bill makes a violation of these provisions punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding six months, or by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both, or as an infraction, for a first offense, and by that jail sentence or a fine of $2,000, or both, for a second or subsequent offense. This bill incorporates amendments to Section 19.8 of the Penal Code proposed by AB 1675(Hagman) and AB 1829 (Cook), contingent on the prior enactment of those bills. This bill incorporates amendments to Section 602 of the Penal Code proposed by AB 668 (Liu) and AB 2324 (Perez), contingent on the prior enactment of those bills. Background Development of Trespass Law, Recently Defined Forms of Trespass . California trespass law is complex. It appears that the trespass laws were initially intended to address, and perhaps reduce or eliminate, disputes about rural land. CONTINUED AB 451 Page 6 Witkin notes that "nearly all of [the various crime provisions in the statute] relate to destruction or taking" of property. Thus, the trespass law has traditionally not addressed simple unauthorized entry, without some additional harm intended or caused by the person entering the property. The various forms of trespass have been drafted with detailed and specific elements. For example there are forms of trespass for entering land to cut down wood, to carry away wood, to destroy or carry away oysters, opening a gate and leaving it open without the consent of the owner. Thus, there is no true general form of trespass. Each form of trespass must be specifically stated. The main trespass statute, Penal Code Section 602, actually is a collection of many separate crimes. The section has been amended relatively frequently in recent years to address unique circumstances that were not specifically address in the law. In 2003, a new form of trespass was defined for entering lands where animals are being bred. Another form of trespass defined in 2003 concerned entering a maternity ward without consent, and another bill defined a new form of trespass for entering the secure portion of an airport. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes SUPPORT : (Verified 7/6/10) Screen Actors Guild (source) ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : This bill is sponsored by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and addresses a problem they have had with "party crashers" at their official functions or events. SAG had some event-crashers at the SAG Awards Show in January of this year. Several individuals were able to gain unauthorized access to the event and security was able to identify them quickly remove them from the premises. The Academy Awards and other awards events have also experienced unauthorized attendance at events that are not open to the public. CONTINUED AB 451 Page 7 In this instance, SAG made a citizen's arrest and held the trespassers until the Los Angeles Police Department showed up to take them away. Due to a technical flaw contained in specific portions of existing California law relating to trespass, the Los Angeles City Attorney was not able to prosecute these individuals. Penal Code Section 602 covers trespassing under numerous specific instances that specify the acts that constitute the crime of trespass. Because of how this code section is written, none of these definitions are adequate to uniformly support a charge of trespass for "gate crashers." This bill provides a method to keep unauthorized individuals from attending events that are closed to the public. To constitute a trespass the bill requires the area to be posted so as to give reasonable notice restricting access to authorized guests and persons with lawful business to pursue therein. Reasonable notice is that which would give actual notice to a reasonable person, and is posted at each authorized entrance. RJG:do 8/22/10 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED