California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2683

Introduced by Assembly Member Cooley

February 21, 2014

An act to amend Section 166 of the Penal Code, relating to contempt.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2683, as introduced, Cooley. Contempt: jurors.

Existing law provides that it is contempt of court, a misdemeanor, for a juror to wilfully disobey a court admonishment related to the prohibition on any form of communication or research about the case, including all forms of electronic or wireless communication or research.

This bill would delete that provision.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 166 of the Penal Code is amended to
read:

166.  

(a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b), (c), and (d),
a person guilty of any of the following contempts of court is guilty
of a misdemeanor:

(1) Disorderly, contemptuous, or insolent behavior committed
during the sitting of a court of justice, in the immediate view and
presence of the court, and directly tending to interrupt its
proceedings or to impair the respect due to its authority.

(2) Behavior specified in paragraph (1) that is committed in the
presence of a referee, while actually engaged in a trial or hearing,
pursuant to the order of a court, or in the presence of any jury while
actually sitting for the trial of a cause, or upon an inquest or other
proceeding authorized by law.

(3) A breach of the peace, noise, or other disturbance directly
tending to interrupt the proceedings of the court.

(4) Willful disobedience of the terms as written of any process
or court order or out-of-state court order, lawfully issued by a
court, including orders pending trial.

(5) Resistance willfully offered by any person to the lawful
order or process of a court.

begin delete

(6) Willful disobedience by a juror of a court admonishment
related to the prohibition on any form of communication or research
about the case, including all forms of electronic or wireless
communication or research.

end delete begin delete

(7)

end delete

begin insert (6) end insert  The contumacious and unlawful refusal of a person to be
sworn as a witness or, when so sworn, the like refusal to answer
a material question.

begin delete

(8)

end delete

begin insert (7) end insert  The publication of a false or grossly inaccurate report of the
proceedings of a court.

begin delete

(9)

end delete

begin insert (8) end insert  Presenting to a court having power to pass sentence upon a
prisoner under conviction, or to a member of the court, an affidavit,
testimony, or representation of any kind, verbal or written, in
aggravation or mitigation of the punishment to be imposed upon
the prisoner, except as provided in this code.

begin delete

(10)

end delete

begin insert (9) end insert  Willful disobedience of the terms of an injunction that
restrains the activities of a criminal street gang or any of its
members, lawfully issued by a court, including an order pending
trial.

(b) (1) A person who is guilty of contempt of court under
paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) by willfully contacting a victim
by telephone or mail, or directly, and who has been previously
convicted of a violation of Section 646.9 shall be punished by
imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, by a fine
of five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both that fine and
imprisonment.

(2) For the purposes of sentencing under this subdivision, each
contact shall constitute a separate violation of this subdivision.

(3) The present incarceration of a person who makes contact
with a victim in violation of paragraph (1) is not a defense to a
violation of this subdivision.

(c) (1) Notwithstanding paragraph (4) of subdivision (a), a
willful and knowing violation of a protective order or stay-away
court order described as follows shall constitute contempt of court,
a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for
not more than one year, by a fine of not more than one thousand
dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine:

(A) An order issued pursuant to Section 136.2.

(B) An order issued pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a) of Section 1203.097.

(C) An order issued as a condition of probation after a conviction
in a criminal proceeding involving elder or dependent adult abuse,
as defined in Section 368.

(D) An order issued pursuant to Section 1201.3.

(E) An order described in paragraph (3).

(2) If a violation of paragraph (1) results in a physical injury,
the person shall be imprisoned in a county jail for at least 48 hours,
whether a fine or imprisonment is imposed, or the sentence is
suspended.

(3) Paragraphs (1) and (2) apply to the following court orders:

(A) An order issued pursuant to Section 6320 or 6389 of the
Family Code.

(B) An order excluding one party from the family dwelling or
from the dwelling of the other.

(C) An order enjoining a party from specified behavior that the
court determined was necessary to effectuate the orders described
in paragraph (1).

(4) A second or subsequent conviction for a violation of an order
described in paragraph (1) occurring within seven years of a prior
conviction for a violation of any of those orders and involving an
act of violence or “a credible threat” of violence, as provided in
subdivision (c) of Section 139, is punishable by imprisonment in
a county jail not to exceed one year, or in the state prison for 16
months or two or three years.

(5) The prosecuting agency of each county shall have the
primary responsibility for the enforcement of the orders described
in paragraph (1).

(d) (1) A person who owns, possesses, purchases, or receives
a firearm knowing he or she is prohibited from doing so by the
provisions of a protective order as defined in Section 136.2 of this
code, Section 6218 of the Family Code, or Section 527.6 or 527.8
of the Code of Civil Procedure, shall be punished under Section
29825.

(2) A person subject to a protective order described in paragraph
(1) shall not be prosecuted under this section for owning,
possessing, purchasing, or receiving a firearm to the extent that
firearm is granted an exemption pursuant to subdivision (h) of
Section 6389 of the Family Code.

(e) (1) If probation is granted upon conviction of a violation of
subdivision (c), the court shall impose probation consistent with
Section 1203.097.

(2) If probation is granted upon conviction of a violation of
subdivision (c), the conditions of probation may include, in lieu
of a fine, one or both of the following requirements:

(A) That the defendant make payments to a battered women’s
shelter, up to a maximum of one thousand dollars ($1,000).

(B) That the defendant provide restitution to reimburse the
victim for reasonable costs of counseling and other reasonable
expenses that the court finds are the direct result of the defendant’s
offense.

(3) For an order to pay a fine, make payments to a battered
women’s shelter, or pay restitution as a condition of probation
under this subdivision or subdivision (c), the court shall make a
determination of the defendant’s ability to pay. In no event shall
an order to make payments to a battered women’s shelter be made
if it would impair the ability of the defendant to pay direct
restitution to the victim or court-ordered child support.

(4) If the injury to a married person is caused in whole, or in
part, by the criminal acts of his or her spouse in violation of
subdivision (c), the community property shall not be used to
discharge the liability of the offending spouse for restitution to the
injured spouse required by Section 1203.04, as operative on or
before August 2, 1995, or Section 1202.4, or to a shelter for costs
with regard to the injured spouse and dependents required by this
subdivision, until all separate property of the offending spouse is
exhausted.

(5) A person violating an order described in subdivision (c) may
be punished for any substantive offenses described under Section
136.1 or 646.9. A finding of contempt shall not be a bar to
prosecution for a violation of Section 136.1 or 646.9. However, a
person held in contempt for a violation of subdivision (c) shall be
entitled to credit for any punishment imposed as a result of that
violation against any sentence imposed upon conviction of an
offense described in Section 136.1 or 646.9. A conviction or
acquittal for a substantive offense under Section 136.1 or 646.9
shall be a bar to a subsequent punishment for contempt arising out
of the same act.