BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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Date of Hearing: March 29, 2016
Chief Counsel: Gregory Pagan
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr., Chair
AB
1959 (Rodriguez) - As Introduced February 12, 2016
SUMMARY: Increases the felony state prison punishment for
assault upon the person of an emergency medical technician with
a deadly weapon, firearm, semiautomatic firearm, .50 caliber
sniper rifle, or machine gun. Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes an assault with a deadly weapon or instrument, other
than a firearm, or by means likely to produce great bodily
injury upon the person of an emergency medical technician and
who knows or reasonably should know the victim is an emergency
medical technician engaged in the performance of his or her
duties is punishable by three, four, or five years in the
state prison.
2)Provides that any person who commits an assault with a firearm
upon the person of an emergency medical technician and who
knows or reasonably should know the victim is an emergency
medical technician engaged in the performance of his or her
duties is punishable by four, six, or eight years in the state
prison.
3)Provides that any person who commits an assault with a
semiautomatic firearm upon the person of an emergency medical
technician and who knows or reasonably should know the person
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is an emergency medical technician engaged in the performance
of his or her duties is punishable by five, seven, or nine
years in the state prison.
4)Makes an assault with a machine gun or a .50 BMG rifle, as
defined, upon the person of an emergency medical technician
and who knows or reasonably should know the victim is an
emergency medical technician engaged in the performance of his
or her duties is punishable by 6, 9, or 12 years in the state
prison.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides that any person who commits an assault upon person of
another with a deadly weapon or instrument other than a
firearm is punishable by 2, 3, or 4 years in the state prison
or in a county jail for not exceeding one year, or by a fine
not to exceed $10,000, or by both a fine and imprisonment.
(Penal Code Section 245(a)(1).)
2)States that any person who commits an assault upon person of
another with a firearm is punishable by 2, 3, or 4 years in
the state prison or in a county jail for not less than six
months and not exceeding one year, or by a fine not to exceed
$10,000, or by both a fine and imprisonment. (Penal Code
Section 245(a)(2).)
3)Provides that any person who commits an assault upon person of
another with a semiautomatic firearm is punishable by three,
six, or nine years in the state prison. (Penal Code Section
245(b)
4)Provides that any person who commits an assault upon person of
another with a machine gun or a .50 BMG rifle, as defined, is
punishable by four, eight, or twelve years in the state
prison.
5)Makes an assault upon person of another with force likely to
produce great bodily injury is punishable by two, three, or
four years in the state prison or in a county jail for not
exceeding one year, or by a fine not to exceed $10,000, or by
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both a fine and imprisonment. (Penal Code Section 245(a)(4).)
6)Provides that any person who commits an assault with a deadly
weapon or instrument, other than a firearm, or by means likely
to produce great bodily injury upon the person of a peace
officer or firefighter and who knows or reasonably should know
the victim is a peace officer or firefighter engaged in the
performance of his or her duties is punishable by three, four,
or five years in the state prison. (Penal Code Section 245,
subd. (c).)
7)States when battery committed upon any person and serious
bodily injury is inflicted upon that person the offense is
punishable by two, three, or four years in the state prison or
by up to one year in the county jail. (Penal Code Section
243(d).)
8)Provides that battery upon a peace officer, custodial officer,
firefighter, emergency medical technician, lifeguard, traffic
control officer, or animal control officer engaged in the
performance of his or her duties is punishable by a fine not
exceeding $2,000; imprisonment in the county jail not to
exceed one year; or by both. (Penal Code Section 243(b)(2).)
9)Provides that battery upon a peace officer, custodial officer,
firefighter, emergency medical technician, lifeguard, traffic
control officer, or animal control officer engaged in the
performance of his or her duties, where an injury is
inflicted, is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail up
to one year or in the state prison for sixteen months, two or
three years. (Penal Code Section 243(c)(2).)
10)Defines "battery" as "the willful and unlawful use of force
and violence upon another person", punishable by up to six
months in the county jail; by a fine not to exceed $2,000; or
by both fine and imprisonment. (Penal Code Section 242.)
11)Defines "assault" as an "unlawful attempt, coupled with a
present ability, to inflict a violent injury upon the person
of another", and is punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000;
by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months;
or by both (Penal Code Sections 240 and 241.)
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FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "Emergency
medical technicians (EMTs) are often the first responders to
crime, emergencies and disaster situations. And although EMTs
work alongside peace officers and firefighters in dangerous
environments, the penalties for assaulting an EMT are less
than those given for assault against a peace officer or
firefighter.
"In fact, EMTs are 14 times more likely to be violently
injured on the job than the firefighters they work alongside.
AB 1959 recognizes the importance of EMT workers, who often
believe that assault against them is part of their jobs. By
equalizing the penalties for assault against firefighters,
peace officers and EMTs, EMTs can be reassured that their
safety in the workplace is equal to that of their peace
officer and firefighter counterparts."
2)Assault with a Deadly Weapon: Under existing law, assault
with a deadly weapon or with force likely to produce great
bodily injury upon any person is punishable by two, three, or
four years in the state prison, or in a county jail for a term
not to exceed one year (Penal Code § 245 (a)(1)). This bill
would make assault upon the person of an emergency medical
technician in the performance of his or her duty punishable by
three, four, or five years in the state prison. The existing
penalty for assault with a deadly weapon upon any person,
including emergency medical technicians, of two, three or four
years in the state prison is a substantial penalty. Is there
any evidence that this penalty is inadequate or is not being
imposed in serious assault cases? What is the justification
or need to increase this penalty?
3)Assault with a Firearm: Under existing law, assault with a
firearm upon any person is punishable by two, three, or four
years in the state prison, or in a county jail for a term not
to exceed one year (Penal Code § 245 (a)(2)). This bill would
make assault upon the person of an emergency medical
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technician in the performance of his or her duty with a
firearm punishable by four, six, or eight years in the state
prison. Is it really necessary to double the existing already
substantial penalty for assault with a firearm? Is there any
evidence that emergency medical technicians are being
assaulted with firearms?
Additionally, any person who personally uses a firearm in the
commission of a felony is subject to an additional and
consecutive term in the state prison of three, four, or ten
years, even if the use of a firearm is an element of the
offense (Penal Code § 12022.5 (a) and (d)). Therefore, a
person who assaults an emergency medical technician, with a
firearm use allegation, can be sentenced up to fourteen years
in prison. Why is there a need to double the existing
underlying penalty?
4)Assault with a Semiautomatic Firearm: Under existing law,
assault with a semiautomatic firearm upon any person is
punishable by three, six, or nine years in the state prison
(Penal Code § 245 (d)(2)). This bill would make assault upon
the person of an emergency medical technician in the
performance of his or her duty with a semiautomatic firearm
punishable by three, six, or nine years in the state prison.
Under existing law, with the firearm use allegation mentioned
above, a person that assaults any person, including emergency
medical technicians can receive up to nineteen years in the
state prison. Again, is there any evidence that emergency
medical technicians are being assaulted with firearms? The
author, in the background material, made a reference to
assaults against emergency medical technicians, but failed to
indicate if any of these assaults are with a firearm.
5)Assault with a Machine Gun or .50 BMG Rifle: Under existing
law, assault with a machine gun or .50 BMG Rifle upon any
person is punishable by four, eight, or twelve years in the
state prison (Penal Code § 245 (d)(3). This bill would make
assault upon the person of an emergency medical technician in
the performance of his or her duty with a machine gun or .50
BMG Rifle punishable by six, nine, or twelve years in the
state prison. Again, under existing law, there is a three,
four, or ten year firearm use enhancement (Penal Code §
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12022.5 (a)). Is there any need or justification, other than
not wanting to be treated differently than peace officers or
firefighters, to increase the already substantial penalties
for assaults upon any person with various firearms? Also,
there hasn't been any evidence of an emergency medical
technician ever having been assaulted with a machine gun or
.50 caliber sniper rifle.
6)Prison Overcrowding: On February 10, 2014, the federal court
ordered California to reduce its in-state adult institution
population to 137.5% of design capacity by February 28, 2016,
as follows:
143% of design bed capacity by June 30, 2014;
141.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2015; and,
137.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2016.
In February of last year the administration reported that as
"of February 11, 2015, 112,993 inmates were housed in the
State's 34 adult institutions, which amounts to 136.6% of
design bed capacity, and 8,828 inmates were housed in
out-of-state facilities. This current population is now below
the court-ordered reduction to 137.5% of design bed capacity."
(Defendants' February 2015 Status Report In Response To
February 10, 2014 Order, 2:90-cv-00520 KJM DAD PC, 3-Judge
Court, Coleman v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (fn. omitted).
While significant gains have been made in reducing the prison
population, the state now must stabilize these advances and
demonstrate to the federal court that California has in place
the "durable solution" to prison overcrowding "consistently
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demanded" by the court. (Opinion Re: Order Granting in Part
and Denying in Part Defendants' Request For Extension of
December 31, 2013 Deadline, NO. 2:90-cv-0520 LKK DAD (PC),
3-Judge Court, Coleman v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (2-10-14).
However, even though the state has complied with the federal
court order, the prison population needs to be maintained, not
increased. And according to the Legislative Analyst's Office
(LAO), "CDCR is currently projecting that the prison
population will increase by several thousand inmates in the
next few years and will reach the cap by June 2018 and exceed
it by 1,000 inmates by June 2019."
( http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2014/budget/criminal-justice/cri
minal-justice-021914.aspx .) The LAO also notes that
predicting the prison population is "inherently difficulty"
and subject to "considerable uncertainty." (Ibid.)
Nevertheless, increasing the felony prison sentences for
assault with a firearm upon an emergency medical technician
when the prison population is already expected to increase
seems imprudent.
7)Governor's Veto: AB 172 (Rodriguez) of the 2015-2016
Legislative Session would have increased the penalties for
assault and battery committed against a physician, nurse, or
other health care worker engaged in performing services within
the emergency department, and the person committing the
offense knows or reasonably should know that the victim is a
physician, nurse, or other health care worker engaged in
performing services within the emergency department. AB 172
was vetoed by the Governor.
The Governor, in his veto message, stated, "This bill would
increase from six months to one year in the county jail the
maximum punishment for assault or battery on health care
worker inside an emergency department.
"Emergency rooms are overcrowded and often chaotic. I have
great respect for the work done by emergency room staff and I
recognize the daunting challenge they face every day. If
there were evidence that an additional six months in county
jail (three months, once good-time credits are applied) would
enhance the safety of these workers or serve as a deterrent, I
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would sign this bill. I doubt that it will do either.
"We need to find more creative ways to protect the safety of
these critical workers. This bill isn't the answer."
If the Governor wouldn't sign a bill that contained a modest six
month county jail increase to protect health care workers in
within the emergency department, it's unlikely he would sign
this bill.
8)Prior Legislation:
a) SB 390 (La Malfa), Chapter 249, Statutes of 2011,
increased the penalties for assault and battery against the
person of a search and rescue member engaged in the
performance of his or her duty.
b) SB 406 (Lieu), Chapter 250, Statutes of 2011, increased
the penalties for assault and battery against the person of
a security officer or custodial assistant engaged in the
performance of his or her duty.
c) SB 409 (Lowenthal), Chapter 410, Statutes of 2009,
increased the penalties for assault and battery against the
person of a highway worker engaged in the performance of
his or her duty.
d) AB 1686 (Leno), Chapter 243, Statutes of 2007, increased
the fine from $1,000 to $2,000 when an assault is committed
against a parking control officer in the performance of his
or her duty.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
American Medical Response
California Fire Chiefs Association
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Fire Districts Association of California
California State Sheriffs' Association
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Riverside Sheriffs' association
Los Angeles Professional Peace officers Association
Opposition
American Civil Liberties Union
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Analysis Prepared
by: Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744