BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 569| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SB 569 Author: Lieu (D) Amended: 5/28/13 Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/9/13 AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Block, De León, Knight, Liu, Steinberg SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/23/13 AYES: De León, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg SUBJECT : Interrogation: electronic recordation SOURCE : American Civil Liberties Union California Attorneys for Criminal Justice California Public Defenders Association Friends Committee on Legislation of California Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety DIGEST : This bill requires the electronic recordation of custodial interrogations of minors suspected of committing specified offenses, and set forth exceptions and remedies to that requirement. ANALYSIS : The Fifth Amendment of the Federal Constitution provides in pertinent part that "No person shall?be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself?." The U.S. Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436, held that the Fifth Amendment privilege may be invoked CONTINUED SB 569 Page 2 during a custodial interrogation. To protect the privilege, when a suspect invokes the right to remain silent or the right to an attorney, all questioning must cease. The only exceptions to this rule are to allow officers to question when reasonably necessary to protect the public safety or to obtain non-incriminating booking information. Existing law: 1. Creates the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) and provides that the commission shall adopt, and may from time to time amend, rules establishing minimum standards relating to physical, mental, and moral fitness that shall govern the recruitment of peace officers. 2. Provides that POST shall prepare guidelines establishing standard procedures which may be followed by police agencies and prosecutors in interviewing minor witnesses. This bill: 1. Provides that a custodial interrogation of a minor who is suspected of committed a specified offense shall be electronically recorded in its entirety. 2. Provides that a statement that is electronically recorded as required creates a rebuttable presumption that the electronically recorded statement was, in fact, given and was accurately recorded by the prosecution's witnesses, provided the electronic recording was made of the custodial interrogation in its entirety and the statement is otherwise admissible. 3. Provides that the requirement for the electronic recordation of a custodial interrogation shall not apply under specified circumstances 4. Provides that if the prosecution relies on an exception to justify a failure to make an electronic recording of a custodial interrogation, the prosecution shall show by clear and convincing evidence that the exception applies. 5. Provides that the interrogating entity shall maintain the original or an exact copy of an electronic recording made of CONTINUED SB 569 Page 3 an electronic recording made of a custodial interrogation until a conviction for any offense relating to the interrogation is final and all direct and habeas corpus appeals are exhausted or the prosecution for that offense is barred by law, or in a juvenile court proceeding, otherwise. The interrogating entity may make one or more true, accurate, and complete copies of the electronic recording in a different format. 6. Defines and makes a number of Legislative finding and declarations Comments Videotaping of interrogations has emerged as a powerful innovation and fact-finding tool for the criminal justice system. A central objective of the criminal justice system is to accurately ascertain the facts surrounding criminal offenses in order to correctly identify perpetrators so that they may be punished. The virtue of videotaping interrogations, and its strength as a public policy, lies not only in its ability to help guard against false confessions, but also in its ability to develop the strongest evidence possible to help convict the guilty. The ability to view such a permanent record is integral to the subsequent assessment of the juvenile, his/her comprehension of the Miranda warnings, and the nature, setting and circumstances of the interrogation. Related legislation SB 1300 (Alquist, 2012) would have required the electronic recordation of custodial interrogations of both adults and minors suspected of serious or violent felonies. The bill was held on the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense file. SB 1590 (Alquist, 2008) would have required the electronic recordation of any custodial interrogation of an individual suspected of homicide or a violent felony. The bill was held on the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense file. SB 511 (Alquist, 2007) would have required custodial interrogations of violent felony suspects to be electronically CONTINUED SB 569 Page 4 recorded. This bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger with the following message: I am returning Senate Bill 511 without my signature. While reducing the number of false confessions is a laudable goal, I cannot support a measure that would deny law enforcement the flexibility necessary to interrogate suspects in homicide and violent felony cases when the need to do so is not clear. Police interrogations are dynamic processes that require investigators to use acumen, skill and experience to determine which methods of interrogation are best for the situation. This bill would place unnecessary restrictions on police investigators. SB 171 (Alquist, 2006) a similar bill, was also vetoed by the Governor Schwarzenegger. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Increased annual court costs to consider the admissibility of electronically recorded interrogations, or lack thereof, of $2.6 million (General Fund*) for 20,600 petitions filed under WIC Section 707(b) per year. Potentially significant one-time and moderate annual ongoing costs (General Fund*) for the Judicial Council to establish and maintain a compliance monitoring system. Costs for the development of forms and rules of court estimated at $100,000, as well as increased workload for judges required to complete/submit interrogation forms. Potentially major reimbursable state-mandated local law enforcement start-up costs in the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars (General Fund) to the extent electronic recording equipment, storage, personnel, and facilities improvement are required. CONTINUED SB 569 Page 5 Annual ongoing reimbursable state-mandated local law enforcement costs potentially in the hundreds of thousands to low millions of dollars (General Fund) for increased workload associated with interrogation recordation and completion/submittal of DOJ interrogation forms, as well as equipment maintenance. Potentially significant annual ongoing reimbursable state-mandated local costs for district attorneys to complete and submit interrogation forms developed by the Judicial Council for specified cases. Potential one-time significant costs (General Fund) for the CDCR to purchase audio recording equipment. Annual ongoing training and workload costs for recordation and completion/submittal of interrogation forms. Potential one-time costs of $170,000 (Motor Vehicle Account) to the California Highway Patrol for audio recording equipment. Minor annual costs for maintenance of equipment. Potentially significant annual ongoing costs (General Fund) for the DOJ to monitor compliance. One-time costs of approximately $50,000 (General Fund) to develop forms. Unknown, potentially substantial future trial court cost savings (General Fund) to the extent mandated electronic interrogation recording results in fewer false confessions, expedited trials, and avoided litigation involving interrogation issues. SUPPORT : (Verified 5/23/13) American Civil Liberties Union (co-source) California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (co-source) California Public Defenders Association (co-source) Friends Committee on Legislation of California (co-source) Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety (co-source) National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter CONTINUED SB 569 Page 6 OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/23/13) Juvenile Court Judges of California ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, the development of DNA technology and the subsequent exonerations of nearly 200 innocent people have opened a window into the errors in the criminal justice system that can lead to wrongful convictions. This was apparent in a national study conducted by Professor Samuel Gross of the University of Michigan that identified false confessions, extracted during police questioning of suspects, as the second most frequent cause of wrongful conviction. As a result, it has become imperative that we develop policies that enhance the fact-finding power of the criminal justice system through procedures designed to present the best quality of evidence possible in the courtroom. The reforms contained within this bill, specifically the requirement to videotape the custodial interrogations of juveniles for certain serious crimes, will improve criminal investigation techniques, reduce the likelihood of wrongful conviction, and further the cause of justice in California. ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Juvenile Court Judges of California opposes this bill because of concerns that this bill's language is cumbersome and that procedures to determine whether there was a proper excuse for not recording the interview would delay court proceedings. JG:d 5/28/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED