BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2124
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2124 (Lowenthal)
As Amended August 22, 2014
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |48-25|(May 28, 2014) |SENATE: |23-13|(August 28, |
| | | | | |2014) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Establishes a pilot program in Los Angeles County, until
January 1, 2018, to authorize a judge, at his or her discretion and
over the objection of the prosecution, to defer sentencing a
defendant who has submitted a plea of guilty or nolo contendere for
a misdemeanor for a period not to exceed 12 months.
The Senate Amendments :
1)Narrow the scope of this bill to apply to Los Angeles County as a
pilot program until January 1, 2018.
2)Apply this bill's provisions to first-time misdemeanor defendants,
except as specified.
3)State that nothing in the provisions of this bill is intended to
limit the rights of a victim, as provided in the California
Constitution.
4)Require a defendant whose sentence is deferred to complete all of
the following in order to have his or her plea stricken:
a) Complete all conditions ordered by the court;
b) Make full restitution; and,
c) Comply with a court-ordered protective order, stay-away
order, or order prohibiting firearm possession, if applicable.
5)Prohibit a defendant who has been convicted of any misdemeanor in
the previous 10 years, any misdemeanor involving force or
violence, or a felony from having his or her sentence deferred.
6)List a number of offenses and circumstances that make a
AB 2124
Page 2
defendant's sentence ineligible for deferred entry of judgment.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that the entry of judgment may be deferred with respect
to a defendant charged with specific controlled substance offenses
if they meet specific criteria, including no prior convictions for
any offense involving a controlled substance and have had no prior
felony convictions within five years.
2)Provides that upon successful completion of a deferred entry of
judgment, the arrest upon which the judgment was deferred shall be
deemed to never have occurred. The defendant may in response to
any question in regard to his or her prior criminal record that he
or she was not arrested or granted deferred entry of judgment,
except as specified.
3)Provides that the district attorney of each county shall review
annually any diversion program adopted by the county, and no
program shall continue without the approval of the district
attorney. No person shall be diverted under a program unless it
has been approved by the district attorney. Nothing in this
subdivision shall authorize the prosecutor to determine whether a
particular defendant shall be diverted.
4)States, notwithstanding any other provision of law, this chapter
shall become operative in a county only if the board of
supervisors adopts the provisions of this chapter by ordinance.
5)Provides that the district attorney of each county shall review
annually any diversion program established pursuant to this
chapter, and no program shall continue without the approval of the
district attorney. No person shall be diverted under a program
unless it has been approved by the district attorney. Nothing in
this subdivision shall authorize the prosecutor to determine
whether a particular defendant shall be diverted.
6)States that it is the intent of the Legislature that these
provisions of law shall not be construed to preempt other current
or future pretrial or pre-complaint diversion programs. It is
also the intent of the Legislature that current or future post
trial diversion programs not be preempted, except as provided.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill authorized a judge, at his or
her discretion, to defer sentencing a defendant who has submitted a
AB 2124
Page 3
plea of guilty or nolo contendere for a period not to exceed 12
months and to order the defendant to comply with terms, conditions,
and programs, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "A prosecutor has the sole
discretion to charge a defendant with a crime, and existing
misdemeanor diversion programs are largely authorized and
administered at the discretion of a prosecuting attorney. However,
the court arguably has equal discretion to issue a sentence once a
plea has been entered or a verdict rendered.
"In line with this precedent, AB 2124 provides courts with explicit
authority to defer sentencing of a defendant who has pled guilty or
"no contest" to a misdemeanor. Upon deferral, a defendant must
comply with any terms, conditions or programs required by the court.
Defendants who successfully fulfill all court mandated obligations
would have their plea and the action against them stricken from the
record. Defendants who fail to comply would be sentenced as if
deferral had not occurred.
"AB 2124 has the potential to spare appropriately selected offenders
the stigma of a criminal record. Like diversion programs,
alternative sentencing as provided for in AB 2124 can save state and
local governments substantial sums of money and help free up jurors
from having to serve on comparatively inconsequential trials."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN:
0005435