BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 569|
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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