BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2468
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 10, 2010
Counsel: Gabriel Caswell
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
AB 2468 (Knight) - As Amended: February 24, 2012
SUMMARY : Increases penalties for various crimes involving
evading peace officers. Specifically, this bill :
1)Increases the penalty from a misdemeanor to a felony,
punishable by 16 months, two or three years in state prison
for a person who evades a police vehicle or bicycle while on
parole, post-release supervision, post-release community
supervision, or probation for a felony, or who is a defendant
serving a specified felony sentence.
2)Increases the penalty from a misdemeanor to a felony,
punishable by two, three or four years in state prison, for a
person who eludes a pursuing peace officer in violation and
the pursued vehicle is driven in a willful or wanton disregard
for the safety of persons or property if the person evading is
on parole, post-release supervision, post-release community
supervision, or probation for a felony, or who is a defendant
serving a specified felony sentence.
3)Increases the penalty from a misdemeanor to a felony,
punishable by two, three or four years in state prison, for a
person who willfully flees or attempts to elude a pursuing
peace officer in and the person operating the pursued vehicle
willfully drives that vehicle on a highway in a direction
opposite to that in which the traffic lawfully moves upon that
highway if the person evading is on parole, post-release
supervision, post-release community supervision, or probation
for a felony, or who is a defendant serving a specified felony
sentence.
4)Adds a two-year sentence enhancement, to be served
consecutively, for a person who eludes a pursuing peace
officer when the defendant proximately causes serious bodily
injury or death to any person if the defendant is on parole,
post-release supervision, post-release community supervision,
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or probation for a felony, or who is a defendant serving a
specified felony sentence.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States that any person who, while operating a motor vehicle
and with the intent to evade, willfully flees or otherwise
attempts to elude a pursuing peace officer's motor vehicle, is
guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county
jail for not more than one year if all of the following
conditions exist ÝCalifornia Vehicle Code Section 2800.1(a)]:
a) The peace officer's motor vehicle is exhibiting at least
one lighted red lamp visible from the front and the person
either sees or reasonably should have seen the lamp.
b) The peace officer's motor vehicle is sounding a siren as
may be reasonably necessary.
c) The peace officer's motor vehicle is distinctively
marked.
d) The peace officer's motor vehicle is operated by a peace
officer, as defined, and that peace officer is wearing a
distinctive uniform.
2)Provides that any person who, while operating a motor vehicle
and with the intent to evade, willfully flees or otherwise
attempts to elude a pursuing peace officer's bicycle, is
guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county
jail for not more than one year if the following conditions
exist ÝCalifornia Vehicle Code Section 2800.1(b)]:
a) The peace officer's bicycle is distinctively marked.
b) The peace officer's bicycle is operated by a peace
officer, as defined, and that peace officer is wearing a
distinctive uniform.
c) The peace officer gives a verbal command to stop.
d) The peace officer sounds a horn that produces a sound of
at least 115 decibels.
e) The peace officer gives a hand signal commanding the
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person to stop.
f) The person is aware or reasonably should have been aware
of the verbal command, horn, and hand signal, but refuses
to comply with the command to stop.
3)States that if a person flees or attempts to elude a pursuing
peace officer in violation of evading and the pursued vehicle
is driven in a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of
persons or property, the person driving the vehicle, upon
conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state
prison, or by confinement in the county jail for not less than
six months nor more than one year. The court may also impose a
fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000, or may
impose both that imprisonment or confinement and fine. For
purposes of this section, a willful or wanton disregard for
the safety of persons or property includes, but is not limited
to, driving while fleeing or attempting to elude a pursuing
peace officer during which time either three or more
violations that are assigned a traffic violation point count
occurs, or damage to property occurs. (California Vehicle
Code Section 2800.2)
4)States that whenever willful flight or attempt to elude a
pursuing peace officer in violation of Vehicle Code Section
2800.1 proximately causes serious bodily injury to any person,
the person driving the pursued vehicle, upon conviction, shall
be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for three,
five, or seven years, by imprisonment in a county jail for not
more than one year, or by a fine of not less than $2,000 nor
more than $10,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
ÝCalifornia Vehicle Code Section 2800.3(a).]
5)Provides whenever willful flight or attempt to elude a
pursuing peace officer in violation of evading proximately
causes death to a person, the person driving the pursued
vehicle, upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment in
the state prison for a term of 4, 6, or 10 years. ÝCalifornia
Vehicle Code Section 2800.3(b).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "This measure
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will provide a strong deterrent for felons faced with the
decision to evade a police officer. Those found guilty of
such an action will be subject to a minimum of 16 months in
state prison. In cases involving serious bodily injury or
death, the felon will receive a minimum of a 2-year penalty
enhancement in state prison, consecutive with any other term
imposed by the court.
"In a time when felons are spending less time incarcerated for
crimes they commit due to prison over-crowding, it is
essential that the legislature provide protections to ensure
public safety against the most egregious offenders."
2)Offenders on Probation and Parole Already Face Increased
Penalties : Under existing law, individuals who commit these
crimes while on probation or parole already face increased
penalties. In addition to being convicted of the offenses
proscribed herein, parole or probation can be revoked.
Revocation of parole and/or probation will generally result in
additional jail or prison time depending on the crime for
which they were on supervision. This bill increases existing
misdemeanor penalties to substantial prison time in a climate
of prison overcrowding and realignment.
3)On-going Concerns for Prison Overcrowding : In November 2006,
plaintiffs in two ongoing class action lawsuits-Plata v. Brown
(involving inmate medical care) and Coleman v. Brown
(involving inmate mental health care)-filed motions for the
courts to convene a three-judge panel pursuant to the U.S.
Prison Litigation Reform Act. The plaintiffs argued that
persistent overcrowding in the state's prison system was
preventing the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) from delivering constitutionally
adequate health care to inmates. The three-judge panel
declared that overcrowding in the state's prison system was
the primary reason that CDCR was unable to provide inmates
with constitutionally adequate health care. In January 2010,
the three-judge panel issued its final ruling ordering the
State of California to reduce its prison population by
approximately 50,000 inmates in the next two years.
ÝColeman/Plata vs. Schwarzenegger (2010) No. Civ S-90-0520 LKK
JFM P/NO. C01-1351 THE.]
The United State Supreme Court upheld the decision of the
three-judge panel, declaring that "without a reduction in
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overcrowding, there will be no efficacious remedy for the
unconstitutional care of the sick and mentally ill" inmates in
California's prisons. ÝBrown v. Plata (2011) 131 S.Ct. 1910,
1939; 179 L.Ed.2d 969, 999.]
According to a recent report by the Legislative Analyst's
Office, "Based on CDCR's current population projections, it
appears that it will eventually reach the court-imposed
population limit, though not by the June 2013 deadline." ÝSee
Refocusing CDCR After the 2011 Realignment (Feb. 23, 2012)
pp.3
.
] "In particular, the projections show the state missing the
final population limit of no more than 110,000 inmates housed
in state prisons by June 2013. Specifically, the projections
show the state exceeding this limit by about 6,000 inmates.
However, the projections indicate that the state will meet the
court-imposed limit by the end of 2014." (Id. at p. 9.)
"While the state has undergone various changes to reduce
overcrowding prior to the passage of the realignment
legislation-including transferring inmates to out-of-state
contract facilities, construction of new facilities, and
various statutory changes to reduce the prison population-the
realignment of adult offenders is the most significant change
undertaken to reduce overcrowding." (Id. at p. 8.)
4)Argument in Support : According to the Association for Los
Angeles County Sheriffs , "Ýd]ue to overcrowding in state
prisons and realignment ordered by the courts, felons are
serving less time of their original sentence. Prisoners are
returned to their communities, and are back on the streets,
sooner rather than later. As a result of this change, AB 2468
takes note and increases the penalty when a felon, on parole
or under supervision, evades law enforcement while in a
vehicle. In such a situation the defendant would be subject
to a mandatory 16 months or two or three years back in state
prison. (Existing law provides the same penalty for a citizen
with no prior record who evades the police in a motor
vehicle.).
"Drivers who flee or attempt to elude a pursuing peace officer
show disregard for safety involving their own vehicle and
life, not to mention others who could be caught off-guard and
hurt from fast, reckless driving. Resulting bodily harm or
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death can add the additional element of turning a misdemeanor
into a felony. Fleeing officer pursuits care taken seriously,
and for this reason, AB 2468 deserves support."
5)Argument in Opposition: According to the California Public
Defenders Association , "AB 2468 would increase the penalty for
a person operating a motor vehicle who willfully flees or
otherwise attempts to elude a pursuing peace officer's vehicle
or bicycle under specified conditions, if the person is on
parole, post-release supervision, post-release community
supervision, or probation for a felony, or who is a defendant
serving a specified sentence.
"Under current law, anyone who flees a peace officer, under
the specified conditions, in a manner that shows willful and
wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property, is
guilty of a felony. Under current law conviction of these
sections does not come under the 'local jail felony'
sentencing scheme of PC 1170(h). Persons convicted of these
offenses can now be sentenced to the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, i.e., state prison. Thus,
this legislation is not needed as a deterrent to, or
punishment for, putting life of property at risk.
"What this legislation seeks to do is to make misdemeanor
conduct, fleeing a peace officer without willful or wanton
disregard for the safety of persons or property a state prison
felony merely due to the status of the person committing the
offense. As such, it is bad public policy, going against the
State's efforts to reduce state prison population, and deal
with low-level offenders at the local, county, level."
6)Prior Legislation : SB 170 (Romero), Statutes of 2005,
Chaptered 485, increased penalties for fleeing in a motor
vehicle from police, requires law enforcement agencies to
implement a police pursuit policy and training, and
conditions immunity from liability for injuries from police
pursuits to adoption and promulgation of pursuit policy.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
California District Attorneys Association
AB 2468
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California Police Chiefs Association
Crime Victims United of California
Peace Officer Research Association of California
Riverside Sheriffs' Association
San Bernardino County Sheriff
Opposition
American Civil Liberties Union
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Public Defenders Association
Drug Policy Alliance
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Analysis Prepared by : Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744