BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1128
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1128 (Salas)
As Amended August 28, 2013
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |74-1 |(May 29, 2013) |SENATE: |36-0 |(September 3, |
| | | | | |2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: G.O.
SUMMARY : Increases the penalty for knowingly selling,
purchasing for, furnishing or giving alcohol to a person under
21 who drinks the alcohol and then proximately causes death or
bodily injury to himself, herself, or another to a discretionary
misdemeanor or felony.
The Senate amendments :
1)Include in a provision regarding great bodily injury or death,
a person who sells any alcoholic beverage to a person under 21
years of age and would provide that a violation of the
prohibition is also punishable as a felony subject to
specified penalties where a person knew that a person to whom
an alcoholic beverage was provided was under 21 years of age.
2)Provide for an exception from felony prosecution for a
licensee or employee, agent, or representative of a licensee,
unless the person had actual prior knowledge that the person
to whom the alcoholic beverage was provided was under 21 years
of age
3)Clarify penalties for misdemeanor and felony offences for
knowingly selling, purchasing for, furnishing or giving
alcohol to a person under 21 who drinks the alcohol and then
proximately causes death or bodily injury to himself, herself,
or another.
4)Make clarifying changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States that every person who sells, furnishes, gives, or
causes to be sold, furnished, or given away, any alcoholic
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beverage to any person under the age of 21 years is guilty of
a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail
not exceeding six month, by a fine not to exceed $1,000, or by
both a fine and imprisonment.
2)States that any person who violates the law by purchasing any
alcoholic beverage for, or furnishing, giving, or giving away
any alcoholic beverage to, a person under the age of 21 years,
and the person under the age of 21 years thereafter consumes
the alcohol and thereby proximately causes great bodily injury
(GBI) or death to himself, herself, or any other person is
guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by not less than six
months, or not more than one year in a county jail.
3)Provides that any on-sale licensee who knowingly permits a
person under the age of 21 years to consume any alcoholic
beverage in the on-sale premises, whether or not the licensee
has knowledge that the person is under the age of 21 years, is
guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the
county jail not exceeding six month, by a fine not to exceed
$1,000, or by both a fine and imprisonment.
4)Provides that except as provided by law, any person who
violates existing law by furnishing an alcoholic beverage, or
causing an alcoholic beverage to be furnished to a minor shall
be punished by a fine of $1,000, no part of which shall be
suspended, and the person shall be required to perform not
less than 24 hours of community service during hours when the
person is not employed and is not attending school.
5)Provides that any person who violates the misdemeanor
provision in Business and Professions Code section 25658 (c)
shall be punished by either six months to one year in county
jail and/or a fine of $1,000 plus penalty assessments.
6)Provides that every person convicted of a felony for a
violation of specified alcoholic beverage regulatory
provisions for which another offense is not provided shall be
punished by a fine of not more than $10,000, imprisonment in a
county jail for not more than one year, imprisonment for 16
months, two or three years in county jail, or by both a fine
and imprisonment.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill made it an alternate
felony/misdemeanor with the felony offense punishable by 16
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months, two, or three years in a county jail for any person
convicted of selling or furnishing an alcoholic beverage to a
person under 21years of age, who thereafter consumes the alcohol
and proximately causes great bodily injury (GBI) or death to
himself, herself, or another person, rather than a straight
misdemeanor.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, potential minor increase in state incarceration
costs, likely less than $50,000 (General Fund) annually, for
increased state prison commitments to the extent felony
convictions under this bill sentenced occur for individuals
convicted of a prior serious or violent felony. Ongoing
non-reimbursable local enforcement and incarceration costs
offset to a degree by fine revenue. While the impact of this
bill independently on local jails is likely to be minor, the
cumulative effect of new or expanded crimes impacting jail
overcrowding could create General Fund cost pressure on capital
outlay, staffing, programming, the courts, and other resources
in the context of criminal justice realignment.
COMMENTS : This bill, as amended in the Senate is consistent
with Assembly actions.
Background : In California, to purchase, consume or possess
alcoholic beverages the age of majority is 21. Under current
law, a minor can be arrested for purchasing, consuming or
possessing alcoholic beverages, which constitutes a misdemeanor.
Any person under the age of 21 years, who attempts to purchase
any alcoholic beverage from a licensee, or the licensee's agent
or employee, is guilty of an infraction and shall be punished by
a fine of not more than $100. The penalty for a person who
furnishes alcohol to a minor is a minimum $1,000 fine and 24
hours of community service. If a person buys alcohol and
furnishes it to a minor who consumes it and causes great bodily
injury or death to himself or others, the furnisher faces a
minimum six to 12 months in county jail and a $1,000 fine.
Over the years, the Legislature has enacted legislation to
increase penalties on licensees, clerks and others making
illegal sales of alcohol to minors. The changes in law include
a provision which revokes a liquor license if the licensee makes
three sales of alcohol to a minor within a three-year period.
Clerks that make sales of alcohol to minors are guilty of
misdemeanors and possibly subject to $1,000 fines. There is
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growing sentiment that minors and other young adults should be
held more accountable in their commission of these acts.
Furnishing or Giving Alcohol to a Person under 21 : Existing law
makes it a misdemeanor for any person who sells, furnishes,
gives, or causes to be sold, furnished, or given away, any
alcoholic beverage to any person under the age of 21 years. Any
person under the age of 21 years who purchases any alcoholic
beverage, or any person under the age of 21 years who consumes
any alcoholic beverage in any on-sale premises, is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
Any person who purchases any alcoholic beverage for, or
furnishes, gives, or gives away any alcoholic beverage to, a
person under the age of 21 years, and the person under the age
of 21 years thereafter consumes the alcohol and thereby
proximately causes great bodily injury or death to himself,
herself, or any other person, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
The key issue of this bill is whether the crime of selling to,
purchasing any alcoholic beverage for, or furnishing, giving, or
giving away any alcoholic beverage to, a person under 21 years
of age, and the person under 21 years of age thereafter consumes
the alcohol and thereby proximately causes great bodily injury
or death to himself, herself, or any other person, be increased
from a misdemeanor to a wobbler.
Under this bill, a retail employee would not be subject to
felony prosecution for the sale of an alcoholic beverage to a
person under the age of 21 years unless the retail employee knew
the person was under the age of 21 years.
Purpose of the bill : According to the author's office, this
bill has been introduced to increase the penalty for those who
provide underage drinkers with alcohol and those under-age
drinkers then go on to proximately cause great bodily injury or
death to someone as a result of their illegal intoxication. Our
state must send a strong message to irresponsible adults that
their reckless and complicit action in contributing to the
dangerous intoxication of under-age persons will not result in a
minor slap on the wrist, especially when their action leads to
the death or great bodily injury of another.
According to the author, "on August 31, 2012, a student at
Fresno State University drank to the point of death at an off
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campus fraternity party. The deceased student was one of 12
underage students who were provided alcohol by three individuals
ages 22, 24, and 28. According to Fresno Police Chief Jerry
Dyer, two of the individuals bought eight bottles of distilled
spirits, and took a group of pledges into the "trophy room" at
the fraternity house. Chief Dyer reported the deceased underage
student was taken to another room at some point, where "sober
brothers" would keep an eye on him. It was about 1:30 a.m. when
the victim was found to be "unresponsive." He later died in a
hospital. In a press release, Fresno D.A. Elizabeth Egan said,
"sadly, the fact is that the death was 100 percent preventable."
According to background provided by the author, a study
conducted by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
(PIRE) cited several issues that were included in their study of
costs of underage drinking to California such as violence,
property crime and high risk sex. Nearly $3.8 million went
toward youth violence (homicide, suicide, aggravated assault)
and traffic crashes related to youth drinking accounted for $1.1
million, according to the study. Health issues were also
represented in the findings such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
among teen mothers, which ended up costing the state $152
million. Nearly 1.4 million minors consume alcohol each year in
California.
The author's office points out, in 2009, an estimated 141
traffic fatalities and 7,552 nonfatal traffic injuries were
attributable to driving after underage drinking. In 2009, an
estimated 239 homicides; 141,500 nonfatal violent crimes such as
rape, robbery, and assault; 179,000 property crimes including
burglary, larceny, and car theft were attributable to underage
drinking.
Prior legislation : AB 1658 (Sharon Runner), Chapter 743,
Statutes of 2007. Increased the fines for trying to purchase
alcohol by persons under 21 years old and manufacturing of false
IDs and licenses.
AB 1657 (Sharon Runner) of 2007. Would have it a wobbler to
purchase alcohol for, or furnish, give or give away any
alcoholic beverage to, a person the provider knew or reasonably
should have known to be under the age of 21 years, and the
person under the age of 21 consumes the alcohol and thereby
proximately causes great bodily injury or death to himself,
herself or any other person and the provider should have known
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of the danger. (Failed in the Senate Public Safety Committee)
AB 2967 (Sharon Runner) of 2006. Would have made it a wobbler
to purchase alcohol for, furnish, give or give away any
alcoholic beverage to a person the provider knew or reasonably
should have known to be under the age of 21 years, and the
person under the age of 21 consumes the alcohol and thereby
proximately causes great bodily injury or death to himself,
herself or any other person and the provider should have known
of the danger. (Failed in the Senate Public Safety Committee)
AB 454 (Sharon Runner) of 2005. Would have made it a wobbler to
purchase alcohol for, furnish, give or give away any alcoholic
beverage to a person the provider knew or reasonably should have
known to be under the age of 21 years, and the person under the
age of 21 consumes the alcohol and thereby proximately causes
great bodily injury or death to himself, herself or any other
person and the provider should have known of the danger.
(Failed in the Senate Public Safety Committee)
AB 2037 (La Suer), Chapter 291, Statutes of 2004. Provides the
same liability for furnishing or giving alcohol to a person
under 21 years of age as there currently is for purchasing
alcohol for a person under 21 years of age when the person under
21 drinks the alcohol and proximately causes injury or death.
AB 1301 (Simitian), Chapter 625, Statutes of 2003. Created a
misdemeanor for permitting a person under the age of 18 to
consume alcohol or a controlled substance at the home of the
adult or legal guardian, as specified.
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Johnson / G. O. / (916) 319-2531
FN: 0002286