BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 905 Page 1 Date of Hearing: June 10, 2014 Counsel: Sandy Uribe ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY Tom Ammiano, Chair SB 905 (Knight) - As Introduced: January 17, 2014 SUMMARY : Rewrites the provision of law criminalizing an assault committed by a prison inmate either by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury or with a deadly weapon, by creating separate and distinct subdivisions. EXISTING LAW : 1)States that, except as otherwise provided, every person confined in a state prison who commits an assault upon another person either with a deadly weapon or instrument, or by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, is guilty of a felony and will be punished by imprisonment in state prison for two, four, or six years to be served consecutively to the term being served when the assault was committed. (Pen. Code, § 4501.) 2)Provides that any person who commits an assault upon another person with a deadly weapon or instrument other than a firearm will be punished by imprisonment in state prison for two, three, or four years, or in a county jail for up to one year, or by a fine not exceeding $10,000, or by both the fine and imprisonment. (Pen. Code, § 245(a)(1).) 3)Provides that any person who commits an assault upon another person by any means of force likely to produce great bodily injury will be punished by imprisonment in state prison for two, three, or four years, or in a county jail for up to one year, or by a fine not exceeding $10,000, or by both the fine and imprisonment. (Pen. Code, § 245(a)(4).) 4)States that defendant convicted of a serious felony will receive a five-year sentence enhancement for each prior serious felony conviction. (Pen. Code, § 667, subd. (a).) 5)States that if a defendant is convicted of a felony offense SB 905 Page 2 and he or she 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.) 6)Includes in the list of serious felonies the crime of assault with a deadly weapon by an inmate. (Pen. Code, § 1192.7, subd. (c)(13).) FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : 1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "SB 905 cleans up Penal Code Section 4501, addressing the difficulty prosecutors face when determining whether or not a previous conviction qualifies as a serious felony under California's Three Strikes law. SB 905 does not create new felonies, nor does it expand punishments for existing felonies; it merely clarifies an ambiguous code section. "PC §4501 addresses assault crimes committed by prison inmates. This statute currently contains one paragraph that covers both 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 4501 does not include separate subdivisions for each form of assault, a defendant's prior conviction (and whether or not it constitutes a serious felony) cannot be determined efficiently, causing confusion for prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges. "Subsequently, defendants are sometimes incorrectly charged with strike priors even though they don't qualify; furthermore, this clogs the court system with cases that should be settled at an early date. "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 SB 905 Page 3 confusion and court delays when a crime occurs within a California state prison. "This change will make assessment of prior 4501 convictions more efficient, leading to more accurate and speedier dispositions of criminal cases." 2)Determining the Nature of Prior Convictions : There are cases where a defendant's prior conviction may or may not count as a "strike" for purposes of enhanced punishment, depending on his or her conduct in the prior offense. To determine whether a prior conviction qualifies as a strike, the present court examines the otherwise admissible evidence from entire record of the prior conviction to determine whether the acts actually committed constitute a serious felony. (People v. Guerrero (1988) 44 Cal.3d 343, 352.) But, if the record does not disclose the facts of the offense actually committed, the present court must presume that the convicted rested only on the least statutory elements necessary for that conviction. (People v. Myers (1993) 5 Cal.4th 1193, 1200.) One may commit an assault in two ways that would not qualify as "serious" felonies under section 1192.7, subdivision (c): First, one may aid and abet the assault without personally inflicting great bodily harm or using a firearm. Second, one may commit the assault with force "likely" to cause great bodily injury without, however, actually causing great bodily injury or using a deadly weapon. (People v. Rodriguez (1998) 17 Cal.4th 253, 261.) As currently drafted, Penal Code section 4015 proscribes assaults committed by inmates in either one of two way (with a deadly weapon, or by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury) in the same subdivision. (Pen. Code, § 4501.) This bill reorganizes Penal Code Section 4015 into separate subdivisions to allow the parties to determine the nature of the prior conviction by determining the specific statutory provision under which the conviction occurred. 3)Argument in Support : According to the California District Attorneys Association , the sponsor of this bill, "SB 905 will make it easier for prosecutors and defense attorneys to determine whether or not a defendant's prior conviction for assault under Penal Code Section 4501 involved assault with a deadly weapon, or assault with force likely to produce great SB 905 Page 4 bodily injury. This is a critical distinction, because assault under the deadly weapon theory is classified as a serious felony, while the force likely theory is not. "The consequences that flow from an offense being classified as a 'serious' felony are substantial. In addition to certain sentencing requirements, a serious felony may affect restraining orders and subject the offender to employment restrictions. Thus, it is important that information about the nature of the prior offense is available to all parties." 4)Prior Legislation : AB 1026 (Knight), Chapter 183, Statutes of 2011, reorganized provisions of law relating to assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury (GBI) and assault with a deadly weapon (ADW) by creating separate and distinct subdivisions. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support California District Attorneys Association (Sponsor) Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Opposition None Analysis Prepared by : Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744