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
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            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
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            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  








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            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