BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY Senator Loni Hancock, Chair S 2013-2014 Regular Session B 9 0 5 SB 905 (Knight) As Introduced: January 17, 2014 Hearing date: March 25, 2014 Penal Code JM:sl ASSAULTS BY PRISON INMATES HISTORY Source: California District Attorneys Association Prior Legislation: AB 1026 (Knight) Ch. 183, Stats. 2011 Support: Unknown Opposition:None known KEY ISSUE SHOULD THE CRIMES OF ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON BY A PRISON INMATE AND ASSAULT BY A PRISON INMATE BY MEANS OF FORCE LIKELY TO PRODUCE GREAT BODILY INJURY BE PLACED IN SEPARATE SUBDIVISIONS OF PENAL CODE SECTION 4501? PURPOSE The purpose of this bill is to place the crimes of assault with a deadly weapon by a prison inmate and assault by a prison inmate by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury in two separate subdivisions of Penal Code Section 4501, thereby allowing prosecutors, defense counsel and judges to determine (More) SB 905 (Knight) Page 2 the nature of a prior conviction under Section 4501 by reference to the subdivision under which the defendant was convicted. Existing law provides that any state prison inmate who assaults another with a deadly weapon or instrument, or who assaults another by means of force likely to produce bodily injury, is guilty of a felony, punishable by a consecutive term of two, four or six years in prison. (Pen. Code § 4501.) Existing law provides that if a defendant is convicted of a felony offense and the defendant has previously been convicted of two or more serious or violent offenses, as specified, the court shall impose an indeterminate term of life in prison with the minimum term of 25 years. Where the defendant has a single serious prior serious or violent felony, the court shall double the defendant's prison term. (Pen. Code §§ 667, subds. (b)-(i) and 1170.12.) Existing law provides that a defendant convicted of a serious felony shall receive a five-year sentence enhancement for each prior serious felony conviction. (Pen. Code § 667, subd. (a).) Existing law provides that assault with a deadly weapon by a prison inmate is a serious felony. (Pen. Code § 1192.7, subd. (c)(13).) This bill reorganizes Penal Code Section 4501 - defining two forms of assault by prison inmates - by placing the crimes of 1) assault by a prison inmate by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, and 2) assault with a deadly weapon by a prison inmate in separate subdivisions of the section. RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION For the last several years, severe overcrowding in California's prisons has been the focus of evolving and expensive litigation relating to conditions of confinement. On May 23, 2011, the United States Supreme Court ordered California to reduce its prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity within two SB 905 (Knight) Page 3 years from the date of its ruling, subject to the right of the state to seek modifications in appropriate circumstances. Beginning in early 2007, Senate leadership initiated a policy to hold legislative proposals which could further aggravate the prison overcrowding crisis through new or expanded felony prosecutions. Under the resulting policy, known as "ROCA" (which stands for "Receivership/ Overcrowding Crisis Aggravation"), the Committee held measures that created a new felony, expanded the scope or penalty of an existing felony, or otherwise increased the application of a felony in a manner which could exacerbate the prison overcrowding crisis. Under these principles, ROCA was applied as a content-neutral, provisional measure necessary to ensure that the Legislature did not erode progress towards reducing prison overcrowding by passing legislation, which would increase the prison population. In January of 2013, just over a year after the enactment of the historic Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011, the State of California filed court documents seeking to vacate or modify the federal court order requiring the state to reduce its prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity. The State submitted that the, ". . . population in the State's 33 prisons has been reduced by over 24,000 inmates since October 2011 when public safety realignment went into effect, by more than 36,000 inmates compared to the 2008 population . . . , and by nearly 42,000 inmates since 2006 . . . ." Plaintiffs opposed the state's motion, arguing that, "California prisons, which currently average 150% of capacity, and reach as high as 185% of capacity at one prison, continue to deliver health care that is constitutionally deficient." In an order dated January 29, 2013, the federal court granted the state a six-month extension to achieve the 137.5 % inmate population cap by December 31, 2013. The Three-Judge Court then ordered, on April 11, 2013, the state of California to "immediately take all steps necessary to comply with this Court's . . . Order . . . requiring defendants to reduce overall prison population to 137.5% design capacity by SB 905 (Knight) Page 4 December 31, 2013." On September 16, 2013, the State asked the Court to extend that deadline to December 31, 2016. In response, the Court extended the deadline first to January 27, 2014 and then February 24, 2014, and ordered the parties to enter into a meet-and-confer process to "explore how defendants can comply with this Court's June 20, 2013 Order, including means and dates by which such compliance can be expedited or accomplished and how this Court can ensure a durable solution to the prison crowding problem." The parties were not able to reach an agreement during the meet-and-confer process. As a result, the Court ordered briefing on the State's requested extension and, on February 10, 2014, issued an order extending the deadline to reduce the in-state adult institution population to 137.5% design capacity to February 28, 2016. The order requires the state to meet the following interim and final population reduction benchmarks: 143% of design bed capacity by June 30, 2014; 141.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2015; and, 137.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2016. If a benchmark is missed the Compliance Officer (a position created by the February 10, 2016 order) can order the release of inmates to bring the State into compliance with that benchmark. In a status report to the Court dated February 18, 2014, the state reported that as of February 12, 2014, California's 33 prisons were at 144.3 percent capacity, with 117,686 inmates. 8,768 inmates were housed in out-of-state facilities. The ongoing prison overcrowding litigation indicates that prison capacity and related issues concerning conditions of confinement remain unresolved. While real gains in reducing the prison population have been made, even greater reductions may be required to meet the orders of the federal court. Therefore, the Committee's consideration of ROCA bills - bills that may impact the prison population - will be informed by the following questions: SB 905 (Knight) Page 5 Whether a measure erodes realignment and impacts the prison population; Whether a measure addresses a crime which is directly dangerous to the physical safety of others for which there is no other reasonably appropriate sanction; Whether a bill corrects a constitutional infirmity or legislative drafting error; Whether a measure proposes penalties which are proportionate, and cannot be achieved through any other reasonably appropriate remedy; and, Whether a bill addresses a major area of public safety or criminal activity for which there is no other reasonable, appropriate remedy. COMMENTS 1. Need for this Bill According to the author: Penal Code Section 4501 deals with assaults committed by prison inmates. The section currently contains one paragraph that covers both the crimes of assault on a person with a deadly weapon and assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. Under California law, assault with a deadly weapon is a serious felony and thus a strike under the Three Strikes law, while an assault by force is not. Because Section 4501 does include separate subdivisions for each form of assault, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges often cannot efficiently determine whether a defendant's prior prison assault conviction constitutes a serious felony. When the prosecutor files criminal charges, he or she reviews the defendant's criminal history to determine if the defendant has any prior convictions that can or must be alleged to support enhanced sentencing. Both CCHRS and CII (databases that contain arrest and conviction information) list prior convictions by code section. Prosecutors see "PC §4501" on a defendant's rap sheet, not knowing if it qualifies as a serious felony or not. SB 905 (Knight) Page 6 While the rap sheet often includes some description of the offense, that provides no certainty, as the descriptions often refer to both forms of assault, such as "ASSAULT GBI W/DEADLY WEAPON." If a prosecutor cannot determine the specific form of a defendant's prior prison assault conviction from criminal history databases, the defendant could be incorrectly charged with a strike allegation. This clogs the court system with cases that cannot be settled at an early date because the nature of the prior conviction cannot be determined until the date of trial, when a transcript, minute order, or California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) record is obtained. In 2011 Governor Brown signed AB 1026 (Knight), which provided the same clarification to crimes committed in the public sector (PC §245). SB 905 follows suit by making the same change to the corresponding Penal Code, preventing the same confusion and court delays when a crime occurs in a California state prison. SB 905 does not create new felonies, nor does it expand the punishment for any existing felonies. It merely splits Section 4501 into two subdivisions. Subdivision (a) will define the serious felony of assault with a deadly weapon. Subdivision (b) will define the non-serious felony of assault by force likely to produce great bodily injury. These changes will make assessment of prior Section 4501 conviction much more efficient, leading to more accurate and earlier dispositions of criminal cases. (More) 2. Three Strikes Law Determinations and other Issues Concerning Serious Felonies Assault by a prison inmate by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury is not classified as a serious felony. Assault with a deadly weapon by a prison inmate is classified as a serious felony. (Pen. Code § 1192.7, subd. (c)(13).) A serious felony constitutes a prior strike conviction for purposes of the Three Strikes law. (Pen. Code § 667, subds. (b)-(i).) A defendant who is convicted in the current case of a serious felony is subject to receive an additional five-year sentence enhancement for each prior serious felony conviction. (Pen. Code § 667, subd. (a).) Plea bargaining is limited for serious felonies. (Pen. Code § 1192.7, subd. (c).) Certain sentencing and parole options are not available to defendants convicted of serious felonies. (Pen. Code § 3003.03.) Myriad non-penal consequences flow from the classification of a felony as serious. For example, a person convicted of a serious felony faces employment restrictions, including employment as a teacher. (Ed. Code § 44332.6.) A prior serious felony conviction may affect restraining orders. (Fam. Code § 6306.) It is thus important for prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and others who must make decisions based on whether or not a defendant was convicted of a serious felony to confidently determine whether or not a person has been convicted of such a crime. Under existing law the serious felony of assault with a deadly weapon by a prison inmate and the non-serious offense of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury by a prison inmate are described together in one paragraph of Penal Code Section 4501. One typically cannot determine the nature of a person's prior prison assault conviction from a review of the person's criminal record. This bill would allow the determination of the nature of a prior assault conviction to be made on the basis of the statutory designation of each crime. SHOULD THE CRIMES OF ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON BY A PRISON INMATE AND ASSAULT BY A PRISON INMATE BY MEANS OF FORCE LIKELY TO PRODUCE GREAT BODILY INJURY BE PLACED IN SEPARATE SUBDIVISIONS OF PENAL CODE SECTION 4501? (More) SB 905 (Knight) Page 9 3. Related Prior Bill - AB 1026 (Knight) Chapter 183, Statutes of 2011 - Organization of General Assault Statute (Applicable to Persons not in Prison) This bill essentially makes the same changes to the statute concerning assaults by prison inmates that were made to the general assault statutes in 2011 by AB 1026 (Knight). As with AB 1026 in 2011, this bill does not change the elements of the applicable crimes, the penalty for the crime or the collateral consequences of the conviction. This bill simply reorganizes Penal Code Section 4015 to allow interested parties to determine the nature of the prior conviction by determining the specific statutory provision under which the conviction occurred. ***************