BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 955 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 955 (Mitchell and Lieu) As Amended August 18, 2014 Majority vote SENATE VOTE :32-0 PUBLIC SAFETY 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Ammiano, Melendez, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, | | |Jones-Sawyer, Quirk, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian | | |Skinner, Stone, Waldron | |Calderon, Campos, | | | | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, | | | | |Holden, Jones, Linder, | | | | |Pan, Quirk, | | | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, | | | | |Weber | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Authorizes the interception of wire or electronic communications initially intercepted within the territorial jurisdiction of the court where the judge is siting, if the judge determines, on the basis of facts submitted, that there is probable cause to believe that an individual is committing, has committed, or is about to commit the offense of human trafficking. EXISTING LAW : 1)Authorizes the Attorney General (AG), chief deputy AG, chief assistant AG, district attorney or the district attorney's designee to apply to the presiding judge of the superior court for an order authorizing the interception of wire, electronic digital pager, or electronic cellular telephone communications under specified circumstances. 2)Defines "wire communication, electronic pager communication," "electronic cellular communication," and "aural transfer" for the purposes of wiretaps. 3)Defines "aural transfer" as a transfer containing the human voice at any point between and including the point of origin and the point of reception. SB 955 Page 2 4)Specifies the crimes for which an interception order may be sought: murder; kidnapping; bombing; criminal gangs; and possession for sale, sale, transportation; or manufacturing of more than three pounds of cocaine, heroin, phencyclidine (PCP), methamphetamine or its precursors; possession of a destructive device, weapons of mass destruction or restricted biological agents. 5)Provides that the court may grant oral approval for an emergency interception of wire, electronic pager or electronic cellular telephone communications without an order as specified. Approval for an oral interception shall be conditioned upon filing with the court, within 48 hours of the oral approval, a written application for an order. Approval of the ex parte order shall be conditioned upon filing with the judge within 48 hours of the oral approval. 6)Provides that no order entered under this chapter shall authorize the interception of any wire, electronic pager or electronic cellular telephone or electronic communication for any period loner than is necessary to achieve the objective of the authorization, nor in any event longer than 30 days. 7)Requires that written reports showing what progress has been made toward the achievement of the authorized objective, including the number of intercepted communications, be submitted at least every six days to the judge who issued the order allowing the interception. 8)Provides that whenever an order authorizing an interception is entered the order shall require a report be made to the AG showing what persons, facilities, or places are to be intercepted pursuant to the application, and the action taken by the judge on each of these applications. 9)Requires the AG to prepare and submit an annual report to the Legislature, the Judicial Council and the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Court on interceptions conducted under the authority of the wiretap provisions and specifies what the report shall include. 10)Provides that applications made and orders granted shall be sealed by the judge. Custody of the applications and orders SB 955 Page 3 shall be where the judge orders. The applications and orders shall be disclosed only upon a showing of good cause before a judge and shall not be destroyed except on order of the issuing or denying judge, and in any event shall be kept for 10 years. 11)Provides that a defendant shall be notified that he or she was identified as the result of an interception prior to the entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or at least 10 days, prior to any trial, hearing or proceedings in the case other than an arraignment or grand jury proceeding. Within 10 days prior to trial, hearing or proceeding the prosecution shall provide to the defendant a copy of all recorded interceptions from which evidence against the defendant was derived, including a copy of the court order, accompanying application and monitory logs. 12)Provides that any person may move to suppress intercepted communications on the basis that the contents or evidence were obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution or of California electronic surveillance provisions. 13)Provides that the AG, any deputy attorney general, district attorney or deputy district attorney or any peace officer who, by any means authorized by this chapter has obtained knowledge of the contents of any wire, electronic pager, or electronic cellular telephone communication or evidence derived there from, may disclose the contents to one of the individuals referred to in this section and to any investigative or law enforcement officer as defined in Title 18 of the United State Code Section 2510(7) to the extent that the disclosure is permitted pursuant to Penal Code Section 629.82 and is appropriate to the proper performance of the official duties of the individual making or receiving the disclosure. No other disclosure, except to a grand jury, of intercepted information is permitted prior to a public court hearing by any person regardless of how the person may have come into possession thereof. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, moderate state General Fund (GF) costs, potentially in the range of $1 million, to the extent expanding current authorization for wiretaps leads to an increase in state prison SB 955 Page 4 commitments for human trafficking. Over the past three years, 45 persons have been committed to state prison under the human trafficking section. If this bill is effective and results in just two additional commitments, the annual GF cost would be in the range of $1 million in eight years, assuming an average term of eight years at current per capita prison costs. COMMENTS : According to the author, "The voters of California and several local governments have challenged California to better prosecute perpetrators of human trafficking and provide assistance to victims of human trafficking. SB 955 will mirror federal law by allowing a court to issue a wiretap order on the basis of human trafficking." Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this bill. Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN: 0004815