BILL NUMBER: SB 378 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 2, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Block
FEBRUARY 20, 2013
An act to amend Sections Section
452.5 , 1284, 1452, 1453, 1530, and 1531 of, and to add
Section 137 to, of the Evidence Code, relating
to evidence.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 378, as amended, Block. Evidence: admissibility:
Official record of conviction: admissibility of
electronically digitized versions copy
.
Existing law provides that evidence of a writing made as a record
of an act, condition, or event is not made inadmissible by the
hearsay rule when offered in any civil or criminal proceeding to
prove the act, condition, or event if specified conditions apply.
Existing law provides that an official record of conviction certified
under a specified statute is admissible under this hearsay exception
to prove the commission, attempted commission, or solicitation of a
criminal offense, prior conviction, service of a prison term, or
other act, condition, or event recorded by the record.
This bill would provide that an electronically digitized copy, as
defined, of an official record of conviction is also admissible under
this hearsay exception for the same purposes as the official record.
Existing law governs the admissibility of evidence in civil and
criminal proceedings, as well as actions before referees and court
commissioners.
This bill would, as defined, provide that an electronically
digitized copy of specified documents and other items is admissible
as evidence to the same extent that those documents and items are
otherwise admissible as evidence under existing law, including
official records of criminal convictions, specified writings made by
an employee who is the official custodian of records of a public
entity, seals, signatures, purported copies of writings in the
custody of a public entity, and attested or certified copies.
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 137 is added to the Evidence
Code, to read:
137. "Electronically digitized copy" means a copy that is made by
scanning, photographing, or otherwise exactly reproducing a
document, is stored or maintained in a digitized format, and bears an
electronic signature or watermark unique to the entity responsible
for certifying the document.
SEC. 2. SECTION 1. Section 452.5 of
the Evidence Code is amended to read:
452.5. (a) The official acts and records specified in
subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 452 include any
computer-generated official court records, as specified by the
Judicial Council which relate to criminal convictions, when the
record is certified by a clerk of the superior court pursuant to
Section 69844.5 of the Government Code at the time of computer entry.
(b) (1) An official record of conviction
certified in accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 1530, or an
electronically digitized copy thereof, is admissible
pursuant to under Section 1280 to prove the
commission, attempted commission, or solicitation of a criminal
offense, prior conviction, service of a prison term, or other act,
condition, or event recorded by the record.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, "electronically digitized
copy" means a copy that is made by scanning, photographing, or
otherwise exactly reproducing a document, is stored or maintained in
a digitized format, and bears an electronic signature or watermark
unique to the entity responsible for certifying the document.
SEC. 3. Section 1284 of the Evidence Code is
amended to read:
1284. Evidence of a writing, including an electronically
digitized copy thereof, made by the public employee who is the
official custodian of the records in a public office, reciting a
diligent search and failure to find a record, is not made
inadmissible by the hearsay rule when offered to prove the absence of
a record in that office.
SEC. 4. Section 1452 of the Evidence Code is
amended to read:
1452. A seal, including an electronically digitized copy thereof,
is presumed to be genuine and its use authorized if it purports to
be the seal of:
(a) The United States or a department, agency, or public employee
of the United States.
(b) A public entity in the United States or a department, agency,
or public employee of such public entity.
(c) A nation recognized by the executive power of the United
States or a department, agency, or officer of such nation.
(d) A public entity in a nation recognized by the executive power
of the United States or a department, agency, or officer of such
public entity.
(e) A court of admiralty or maritime jurisdiction.
(f) A notary public within any state of the United States.
SEC. 5. Section 1453 of the Evidence Code is
amended to read:
1453. A signature, including an electronically digitized copy
thereof, is presumed to be genuine and authorized if it purports to
be the signature, affixed in his official capacity, of:
(a) A public employee of the United States.
(b) A public employee of any public entity in the United States.
(c) A notary public within any state of the United States.
SEC. 6. Section 1530 of the Evidence Code is
amended to read:
1530. (a) A purported copy, including an electronically digitized
copy, of a writing in the custody of a public entity, or of an entry
in such a writing, is prima facie evidence of the existence and
content of such writing or entry if:
(1) The copy purports to be published by the authority of the
nation or state, or public entity therein in which the writing is
kept;
(2) The office in which the writing is kept is within the United
States or within the Panama Canal Zone, the Trust Territory of the
Pacific Islands, or the Ryukyu Islands, and the copy is attested or
certified as a correct copy of the writing or entry by a public
employee, or a deputy of a public employee, having the legal custody
of the writing; or
(3) The office in which the writing is kept is not within the
United States or any other place described in paragraph (2) and the
copy is attested as a correct copy of the writing or entry by a
person having authority to make attestation. The attestation must be
accompanied by a final statement certifying the genuineness of the
signature and the official position of (i) the person who attested
the copy as a correct copy, or (ii) any foreign official who has
certified either the genuineness of the signature and official
position of the person attesting the copy or the genuineness of the
signature and official position of another foreign official who has
executed a similar certificate in a chain of such certificates
beginning with a certificate of the genuineness of the signature and
official position of the person attesting the copy. Except as
provided in the next sentence, the final statement may be made only
by a secretary of an embassy or legation, consul general, consul,
vice consul, or consular agent of the United States, or a diplomatic
or consular official of the foreign country assigned or accredited to
the United States. Prior to January 1, 1971, the final statement may
also be made by a secretary of an embassy or legation, consul
general, consul, vice consul, consular agent, or other officer in the
foreign service of the United States stationed in the nation in
which the writing is kept, authenticated by the seal of his office.
If reasonable opportunity has been given to all parties to
investigate the authenticity and accuracy of the documents, the court
may, for good cause shown, (i) admit an attested copy without the
final statement, or (ii) permit the writing or entry in foreign
custody to be evidenced by an attested summary with or without a
final statement.
(b) The presumptions established by this section are presumptions
affecting the burden of producing evidence.
SEC. 7. Section 1531 of the Evidence Code is
amended to read:
1531. For the purpose of evidence, whenever a copy of a writing
is attested or certified, the attestation or certificate must state
in substance that the copy is a correct copy of the original, or of a
specified part thereof, as the case may be. An electronically
digitized copy of an attested or certified copy is admissible to the
same extent as an attested or certified copy.