BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 924|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 924
Author: Bigelow (R)
Amended: 7/9/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 7/2/13
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Block, De León, Knight, Liu, Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/30/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Grand theft
SOURCE : California Cattlemens Association
DIGEST : This bill provides that a defendant convicted of
theft of an animal or a specified animal carcass may be subject
to a fine of up to $5,000, the proceeds of which will be
allocated to the Bureau of Livestock Identification (BLID) of
the Department of Agriculture, to be used for investigation of
livestock and animal carcass theft.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Defines "grand theft" as any theft where the money, labor, or
real or personal property taken or when the property is taken
from the person of another is of a value exceeding $950.
2. Provides that grand theft is committed when the money, labor,
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or real or personal property taken is of a value in excess of
$950, except as specified.
3. Provides that, notwithstanding the default value of $940 to
establish grand theft, grand theft is committed in any of the
following cases:
A. When domestic fowls, avocados, or other farm crops
are taken of a value exceeding $250.
B. When fish or other aquacultural products are taken
from a commercial or research operation that is
producing that product of a value exceeding $250.
C. Where money, labor or property is taken by a servant
or employee from his or her principal and aggregates
$950 or more in any consecutive 12-month period.
D. When the property is taken from the person of
another.
E. When the property taken is an automobile, firearm,
horse, mare, gelding, bovine animal, caprine animal,
mule, jack, jenny, sheep, lamb, hog, sow, boar, gilt,
barrow, or pig.
4. Provides that the taking or fraudulent appropriation of the
carcass of any bovine, caprine, equine, ovine, or suine
animal, or of any mule, jack or jenny, is grand theft. Where
such an animal has been killed without the owner's consent,
taking of any part of the carcass is grand theft.
5. Provides that where the defendant in any action, including a
criminal prosecution, has been found to have taken the cattle
of another person, the recovery to the victim shall be "four
times the value of the animals. The defendant will reimburse
the victim for the time and money expended in pursuing the
cattle.
This bill:
1. Provides that where a person is convicted of grand theft of
livestock, as specified, or the carcass of a specified
animal, the defendant is liable for a fine of up to $5,000.
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2. States the fine will be allocated to BLID and, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, used for investigating
theft of livestock or specified animal carcasses.
3. Makes conforming changes to the Health and Safety Code and
Government Code, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/10/13)
California Cattlemen's Association (source)
Agriculture Council of California
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association
California Chamber of Commerce
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Grain and Seed Association
California Poultry Federation
Los Angeles County District Attorney
Pacific Egg and Poultry Federation
Western United Dairymen
OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/10/13)
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California District Attorneys Association
California Horsemen's Alliance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Farm Bureau Federation
states:
Livestock thefts are a very real problem for our members.
Thefts can range from the loss of one or two calves to an
entire truck load of cattle, which can have significant
impact on a rancher's bottom line. This bill would allow
prosecutors to add additional penalties for convicted
livestock thieves. It also provides funds obtained through
increased fines to be provided to the Bureau of Livestock
Identification (BLID) at the California Department of Food
and Agriculture to be used for investigations of livestock
theft.
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Providing BLID with additional resources to investigate and
enforce against livestock theft will be a valuable effort
towards reducing the incidents of stolen livestock.
Investigating livestock losses is a specialized skill and
providing additional resources to BLID will help their
inspectors build cases against suspected thieves.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Attorneys for
Criminal Justice states:
Existing law establishes that theft of certain livestock
is punishable by imprisonment in county jail not to
exceed one year?? This bill would create an additional
fine of $5,000 and continues the option of charging a
felony or misdemeanor for the theft of livestock. For
the second or subsequent convictions, the bill would
require 30 days in county jail as a condition of granting
probation.
Furthermore, the bill lowers the threshold for
eligibility of an enhancement from a loss of $65,000 to a
$15,000 loss for an additional year of incarceration.
For an additional two years of incarceration, the limit
has been lowered even further, from $200,000 to $50,000.
This bill unnecessarily sends people back to county jail
where our state's goal is to reduce the number of persons
unnecessarily sent to jail.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/30/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson,
Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski,
Wilk, Williams, Yamada
NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, John A. Pérez, Vacancy
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JG:d 7/10/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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