BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 849 (Bonilla) - Crimes: causing an explosion
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|Version: July 16, 2015 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 7 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 849 would provide that a person who recklessly
causes an explosion is guilty of an alternate
felony-misdemeanor, as specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
State prisons : Potentially significant increase in state
prison costs in excess of hundreds of thousands of dollars
(General Fund) annually to the extent the new felony of
recklessly causing an explosion that causes great bodily
injury qualifies as a current conviction for a serious or
violent felony for purposes of sentencing under Penal Code
(PC) § 1170(h), the entire sentence of which would be served
in state prison. Additionally, to the extent a charge under
existing provisions of law, including but not limited to
unlawfully causing a fire pursuant to PC § 452, could be
brought in addition to the new offenses created could result
in lengthier prison sentences.
AB 849 (Bonilla) Page 1 of
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County jails : Potential ongoing increase in non-reimbursable
local enforcement and incarceration costs (Local Fund) for new
felony and misdemeanor convictions resulting in local jail
terms.
Background: Existing law provides that a person is guilty of unlawfully
causing a fire when he or she recklessly sets fire to or burns
or causes to be burned, any structure, forest land or property.
Specifically:
Unlawfully causing a fire that causes great bodily
injury is a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state
prison for two, four or six years, or by imprisonment in
the county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine,
or by both such imprisonment and fine.
Unlawfully causing a fire that causes an inhabited
structure or inhabited property to burn is a felony
punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two,
three or four years, or by imprisonment in the county jail
for not more than one year, or by a fine, or by both such
imprisonment and fine.
Unlawfully causing a fire of a structure or forest land
is a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison
for 16 months, two or three years, or by imprisonment in
the county jail for not more than six months, or by a fine,
or by both such imprisonment and fine.
Unlawfully causing a fire of property is a misdemeanor
as long as the property does not include one burning or
causing to be burned his or her own personal property,
unless there is injury to another person or to another
person's structure, forest land or property. (PC § 452.)
Under current law, if an explosion, and not a fire, causes
great bodily injury in the commission of the offense, a felony
conviction for recklessly causing a fire resulting in great
bodily injury cannot be obtained under PC § 452. Additionally,
if damage caused by fire is to personal property, felony
vandalism is not chargeable. This bill seeks to address these
issues.
Proposed
Law: This bill would provide that a person who recklessly
causes an explosion is guilty of a public offense, as follows:
AB 849 (Bonilla) Page 2 of
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If the explosion causes great bodily injury to another
person, the offense is a felony punishable in county jail
for two, four, or six years (or in state prison if a prior
or current conviction for a serious or violent felony
exists), or a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail for up to one year.
If the explosion causes damages in the amount of $20,000
or more to any structure in which a person was present at
the time of the offense or to an inhabited dwelling, the
offense is a felony punishable in county jail for 16
months, two or three years (or in state prison if a prior
or current conviction for a serious or violent felony
exists), or a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail for up to one year.
If the explosion causes damages between $2,000 and
$20,000, to any structure in which a person was present at
the time of the offense or to an inhabited dwelling, the
offense is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail for up to one year.
Provides that the court may not impose sentence and an
enhancement for infliction of great bodily injury if the
same injury is an element of the crime and the basis for
the enhancement.
Provides that the amount of damages caused by the
defendant's conduct is determined by the market cost of
repair or replacement in the place where the offense
occurred.
Defines "inhabited" as currently being used for dwelling
purposes, whether occupied or not occupied.
Provides that a misdemeanor charged under this section
is subject to a civil compromise, as specified.
AB 849 (Bonilla) Page 3 of
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Provides that this section does not prohibit prosecution
under any other law.
Related
Legislation: SB 305 (Bates) 2015 would have added a state
prison enhancement of two years or five years for the commission
or attempted commission of manufacturing a controlled substance
by chemical extraction or synthesis, as those crimes relate to
concentrated cannabis, if a child under 16 years of age was
present or suffered great bodily injury. This bill was held on
the Suspense File of this Committee.
SB 212 (Mendoza) 2015 would authorize a court to apply a
specified factor in aggravation in cases when sentencing a
defendant for manufacturing methamphetamine or concentrated
cannabis based on the distance from the scene of the offense to
an occupied residence or any structure in which persons are
present at the time of the offense. This bill has been ordered
to engrossing and enrolling.
Staff
Comments: By creating new felony and misdemeanor crimes, this
bill could result in additional costs to both state prisons and
local jails. Any local costs are not estimated to be eligible
for state reimbursement pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB
of the California Constitution, which specifies that any costs
incurred by a local agency due to the creation of a new crime
are not reimbursable.
The new felony offense created in this measure of recklessly
causing an explosion that causes great bodily injury specifies
punishment pursuant to PC § 1170(h) for a term of two, four, or
six years. Under PC § 1170(h), a sentence for a felony
conviction is to be served in county jail unless the defendant
has a prior or current felony conviction for a serious or
violent felony, as specified, or is required to register as a
sex offender.
As any felony in which the defendant inflicts great bodily
injury on any person other than an accomplice is considered a
serious or violent felony (PC §§ 1192.7, 667.5), to the extent a
AB 849 (Bonilla) Page 4 of
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felony conviction would be considered a current conviction of a
serious or violent felony, the entire sentence would be served
in state prison. In effect, this provision would appear to
result in a comparable punishment that exists under PC §
452(a), which plainly states in statute a state prison term of
two, four, or six years for recklessly causing a fire that
causes great bodily injury to a person.
Existing law pursuant to PC § 654 states that an act that is
punishable in different ways by different provisions of law
shall be punished under the provision that provides for the
longest potential term of imprisonment, but in no case shall the
act be punished under more than one provision. A conviction and
sentence under any one bars a prosecution for the same act under
any other.
To the extent charges under existing provisions of law,
including but not limited to recklessly causing a fire pursuant
to PC § 452 or manufacturing of controlled substances pursuant
to HSC § 11379.6, could be brought in addition to the charge of
recklessly causing an explosion, and are allowable as separate
"acts," the potential for extended prison sentences could result
in significant increases in state incarceration costs.
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