BILL NUMBER: SB 378	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  150
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  AUGUST 26, 2013
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  AUGUST 26, 2013
	PASSED THE SENATE  APRIL 29, 2013
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 8, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 2, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Block

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2013

   An act to amend Section 452.5 of the Evidence Code, relating to
evidence.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 378, Block. Official record of conviction: admissibility of
electronically digitized 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.



THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  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 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.