BILL NUMBER: SB 1474	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 23, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 6, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 13, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 25, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 11, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 29, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hancock
   (Coauthors: Senators DeSaulnier, Leno, and Pavley)
    (  Coauthors:   Assembly Members  
Davis   and Skinner   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to amend Sections 781 and 923 of the Penal Code, relating
to grand jury proceedings.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1474, as amended, Hancock. Grand jury proceedings: Attorney
General: powers and duties.
   Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to convene the grand
jury to investigate and consider certain criminal matters. The
Attorney General is authorized to take full charge of the
presentation of the matters to the grand jury, issue subpoenas,
prepare indictments, and do all other things incident thereto to the
same extent as the district attorney may do. Existing law authorizes
the Attorney General to impanel a special grand jury to investigate,
consider, or issue indictments for specified activities relating to
Medi-Cal fraud.
   This bill also would authorize the Attorney General to convene a
special statewide grand jury, as prescribed, for cases involving
fraud or theft that occur in more than one county and were conducted
by a single defendant or multiple defendants acting in concert.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 781 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   781.  Except as provided in Section 923, when a public offense is
committed in part in one jurisdictional territory and in part in
another,  jurisdictional territory or the acts or effects
thereof constituting or requisite to the consummation of the offense
occur in two or more jurisdictional territories, the jurisdiction for
the offense is in any competent court within either jurisdictional
territory.
  SEC. 2.  Section 923 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   923.  (a) Whenever the Attorney General considers that the public
interest requires, he or she may, with or without the concurrence of
the district attorney, direct the grand jury to convene for the
investigation and consideration of those matters of a criminal nature
that he or she desires to submit to it. He or she may take full
charge of the presentation of the matters to the grand jury, issue
subpoenas, prepare indictments, and do all other things incident
thereto to the same extent as the district attorney may do.
   (b) Whenever the Attorney General considers that the public
interest requires, he or she may, with or without the concurrence of
the district attorney, petition the court to impanel a special grand
jury to investigate, consider, or issue indictments for any of the
activities subject to fine, imprisonment, or asset forfeiture under
Section 14107 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. He or she may
take full charge of the presentation of the matters to the grand
jury, issue subpoenas, prepare indictments, and do all other things
incident thereto to the same extent as the district attorney may do.
If the evidence presented to the grand jury shows the commission of
an offense or offenses for which venue would be in a county other
than the county where the grand jury is impaneled, the Attorney
General, with or without the concurrence of the district attorney in
the county with jurisdiction over the offense or offenses, may
petition the court to impanel a special grand jury in that county.
Notwithstanding any other law, upon request of the Attorney General,
a grand jury convened by the Attorney General pursuant to this
subdivision may submit confidential information obtained by that
grand jury, including, but not limited to, documents and testimony,
to a second grand jury that has been impaneled at the request of the
Attorney General pursuant to this subdivision in any other county
where venue for an offense or offenses shown by evidence presented to
the first grand jury is proper. All confidentiality provisions
governing information, testimony, and evidence presented to a grand
jury shall be applicable, except as expressly permitted by this
subdivision. The Attorney General shall inform the grand jury that
transmits confidential information and the grand jury that receives
confidential information of any exculpatory evidence, as required by
Section 939.71. The grand jury that transmits information to another
grand jury shall include the exculpatory evidence disclosed by the
Attorney General in the transmission of the confidential information.
The Attorney General shall inform both the grand jury transmitting
the confidential information and the grand jury receiving that
information of their duties under Section 939.7. A special grand jury
convened pursuant to this subdivision shall be in addition to the
other grand juries authorized by this section, this chapter, or
Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 893).
   (c) Whenever the Attorney General considers that the public
interest requires, he or she may, with or without the concurrence of
the district attorney, impanel a special statewide grand jury to
investigate, consider, or issue indictments in any matters in which
there are two or more activities, in which fraud or theft is a
material element, that have occurred in more than one county and were
conducted either by a single defendant or multiple defendants acting
in concert.
   (1) This special statewide grand jury may be impaneled in the
Counties of Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, or San
Francisco, at the Attorney General's discretion. When impaneling a
special statewide grand jury pursuant to this subdivision, the
Attorney General shall use an existing regularly impaneled criminal
grand jury within the period of its regular impanelment to serve as
the special statewide grand jury and make arrangements with the grand
jury coordinator in the applicable county, or with the presiding
judge or whoever is charged with scheduling the grand jury hearings,
in order to ensure orderly coordination and use of the grand jurors'
time for both regular grand jury duties and special statewide grand
jury duties. Whenever the Attorney General impanels a special
statewide grand jury, the prosecuting attorney representing the
Attorney General shall inform the special statewide grand jury at the
outset of the case that the special statewide grand jury is acting
as a special statewide grand jury with statewide jurisdiction.
   (2) For special statewide grand juries impaneled pursuant to this
subdivision, the Attorney General may issue subpoenas for documents
and witnesses located anywhere in the state in order to obtain
evidence to present to the special statewide grand jury. The special
statewide grand jury may hear all evidence in the form of testimony
or physical evidence presented to the special statewide grand jury,
irrespective of the location of the witness or physical evidence
prior to subpoena. The special statewide grand jury impaneled
pursuant to this subdivision may indict a person or persons with
charges for crimes that occurred in counties other than where the
special statewide grand jury is impaneled. The indictment shall then
be submitted to the court in any county in which any of the charges
could otherwise have been properly brought. The court where the
indictment is filed under this subdivision shall have proper
jurisdiction over all counts in the indictment.
   (3) Notwithstanding Section 944, an indictment found by a special
statewide grand jury convened pursuant to this subdivision and
endorsed as a true bill by the special statewide grand jury
foreperson, may be presented to the court, as set forth in paragraph
(2), solely by the Attorney General and within five court days of the
endorsement of the indictment. For indictments presented to the
court in this manner, the Attorney General shall also file with the
court or court clerk, at the time of presenting the indictment, an
affidavit signed by the special statewide grand jury foreperson
attesting that all the jurors who voted on the indictment heard all
of the evidence presented by the Attorney General, and that a proper
number of jurors voted for the indictment pursuant to Section 940.
The Attorney General's office shall be responsible for prosecuting an
indictment produced by the special statewide grand jury.
   (4) If a defendant makes a timely and successful challenge to the
Attorney General's right to convene a special statewide grand jury by
clearly demonstrating that the charges brought are not encompassed
by this subdivision, the court shall dismiss the indictment without
prejudice to the Attorney General, who may bring the same or other
charges against the defendant at a later date by way of another
special statewide grand jury, properly convened, or a regular grand
jury, or by any other procedure available.
   (5) The provisions of Section 939.71 shall apply to the special
statewide grand jury.
   (6) Unless otherwise set forth in this section, a law applying to
a regular grand jury impaneled pursuant to Section 23 of Article I of
the California Constitution shall apply to a special statewide grand
jury unless the application of the law to a special statewide grand
jury would substantially interfere with the execution of one or more
of the provisions of this section. If there is substantial
interference, the provision governing the special statewide grand
jury will govern.
   (d) Upon certification by the Attorney General, a statement of the
costs directly related to the impanelment and activities of the
grand jury pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c) from the presiding
judge of the superior court where the grand jury was impaneled shall
be submitted for state reimbursement of the costs to the county or
courts.