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.







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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:








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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.









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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  








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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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