BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1168|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1168
Author: Cedillo (D)
Amended: 5/25/10
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/20/10
AYES: Leno, Cogdill, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg,
Wright
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-2, 5/10/10
AYES: Cox, Alquist, Leno, Price, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Kehoe, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Corbett, Denham
SENATE FLOOR : 18-11, 5/13/10 (FAIL)
AYES: Alquist, Ashburn, Cedillo, Cogdill, DeSaulnier,
Florez, Hancock, Huff, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Pavley,
Price, Romero, Simitian, Steinberg, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Aanestad, Correa, Denham, Ducheny, Dutton, Harman,
Hollingsworth, Negrete McLeod, Runner, Strickland,
Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Corbett, Cox, Kehoe, Oropeza,
Padilla, Wiggins, Wright, Wyland, Vacancy, Vacancy
SUBJECT : Los Angeles: misdemeanor criminal grand jury
authority
SOURCE : Los Angeles City Attorneys Office
DIGEST : This bill permits the presiding judge of the Los
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Angeles County Superior Court to, upon the request of a
City Attorney of any city in Los Angeles County with a
population of more than 3,000,000, to impanel an additional
grand jury, as specified. This bill provides that all
costs to the county and court incurred by impaneling the
grand jury will be reimbursed by the requesting City
Attorney. The provisions of this bill will sunset on
January 1, 2014.
Senate Floor Amendments of 5/25/10 recast the bill's
language concerning persons qualified for the grand jury
proposed by this bill, and make related technical
amendments.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that every superior
court, whenever in its opinion the public interest so
requires, shall draw a grand jury. (Section 904 of the
Penal Code [PEN])
Existing law authorizes the presiding judge of the superior
court, or the judge appointed by the presiding judge to
supervise the grand jury to, upon the request of the
Attorney General or the district attorney or upon his/her
own motion, order and direct the impanelment, of one
additional grand jury, as specified. (PEN Section 904.6)
Existing law provides that in Los Angeles County the
presiding judge of the superior court, or the judge
appointed by the presiding judge to supervise the grand
jury may upon the request of the Attorney General or the
district attorney or upon his/her own motion, order and
direct the impanelment of up to two additional grand
juries. (PEN Section 904.8)
Existing case law provides that "a grand jury indictment
charging only misdemeanors cannot be returned." ( People v.
Lukenbill , 234 Cal. App. 3d Supp. 1, 3 [Cal. App.
Department Superior Court 1991])
This bill provides, until January 1, 2014, that in addition
to the above, in Los Angeles County the presiding judge of
the superior court, or the judge appointed by the presiding
judge to supervise the grand jury may upon the request of
the prosecuting city attorney of any city within County of
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Los Angeles having a population in excess of three million
people, order and direct the impanelment of one additional
grand jury.
This bill provides the presiding judge shall select
persons, at random from the list of trial jurors in civil
and criminal cases and shall examine them to determine if
they are competent to serve as grand jurors.
This bill provides that any additional grand jury that is
impaneled may serve for a period of one year from the date
of impanelment, but may be discharged at any time within
the one-year period by the presiding judge. In no event
shall more than one additional grand jury be impaneled
pursuant to this section at one time.
This bill provides that whenever an additional grand jury
is impaneled pursuant to the section created in this bill,
it may inquire only into misdemeanor offenses, involving
environmental, consumer protection, workplace safety,
labor, fraud, or corruption violations and unfair business
practices. This additional grand jury is not authorized to
inquire into any matters that the regular grand jury is
inquiring into at the time of its impanelment and has no
jurisdiction to return indictments.
This bill provides that whenever the prosecuting city
attorney of any city within the County of Los Angeles
having a population in excess of three million people
considers that the public interest requires, he/she may
direct the grand jury impaneled to convene for the
investigation and consideration of those matters for which
grand jury investigation and consideration is authorized
that he/she desires to submit to it. He/she may take full
charge of the presentation of matters to the grand jury,
issue subpoenas, and do all other things incident thereto
to the same extent as the Attorney General or district
attorney may do, except that the prosecuting attorney may
not prepare indictments.
This bill provides that it is the intent of the Legislature
that all persons qualified for jury service shall be
considered for service as criminal grand jurors in
accordance with existing County of Los Angeles rules,
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policies, and regulations.
This bill provides that upon certification by the
prosecuting attorney of the grand jury, a statement of the
costs directly related to the impanelment and activities of
the grand jury from the superior court where the grand jury
was impaneled shall be submitted to the prosecuting city
attorney for reimbursement of the costs to the county and
court out of the prosecuting city attorney's own budget.
The above provisions sunset on January 1, 2014.
This bill provides that the above provisions do not change,
alter, or modify the process, impanelment, or operation of
any other grand jury authorized by this title.
Existing law provides that the grand jury or district
attorney may require by subpoena the attendance of any
person before the grand jury as interpreter. (PEN Section
937)
This bill provides that the prosecuting attorney of any
city within the County of Los Angeles having a population
in excess of 3,000,000 people may also require by subpoena
the attendance of any person before the grand jury as an
interpreter and that the prosecuting attorney shall be
liable for the costs of the interpreter in those cases.
The above provision also sunsets on January 1, 2014.
Existing law provides that a subpoena requiring the
attendance of a witness before the grand jury may be signed
and issued by the district attorney, the district
attorney's investigator, or upon request of the grand jury,
by any judge of the superior court, for witnesses in the
state, in support of the prosecution, for those witnesses
whose testimony, in the judge's opinion is material in an
investigation before the grand jury, and for such other
witnesses as the grand jury, upon an investigation pending
before them may direct. (PEN Section 939.2)
This bill provides that the prosecuting city attorney of
any city within the County of Los Angeles having a
population in excess of 3,000,000 people and the
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prosecuting city attorney's investigator may also sign a
subpoena for witnesses to appear before a grand jury.
This bill provides that the grand jury or district attorney
may require by subpoena the attendance of any person before
the grand jury as interpreter. While his/her services are
necessary, this interpreter may be present at the
examination of witnesses before the grand jury. The
compensation for services of the interpreter constitutes a
charge against the county, and shall be fixed by the grand
jury.
This provision becomes operative on January 1, 2014.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12
2012-13 Fund
Impanel Grand Jury --Potentially significant
costs to City Attorney-- Local
--Potentially significant Court costs;
reimbursed General
by City Attorney--
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/25/10)
Los Angeles City Attorney's Office (source)
California Narcotic Officers' Association
California Peace Officers' Association
California Police Chiefs Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
"Although current law allows for the Attorney General and
District Attorney's to empanel grand juries for the
purpose of conducting criminal investigations, because
the numbers of cases is steadily increasing and the
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criminal grand jury has not been able to schedule enough
hearings to meet the needs, cases consequently fall
through the cracks.
"The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office in some instances
has pursued significant cases that are not handled
elsewhere. In these types of cases, grand juries are
preferable in order to avoid potential media attention
that may negatively impact the case or the entity being
investigated. However, the Los Angeles City Attorney
does not have the authority to impanel a criminal grand
jury.
"Without the authority to impanel a criminal grand jury
to determine whether evidence is sufficient for the
matter to be taken to trial, these cases often end up
costing hundreds of thousands of dollars more and many
years of investigating to get to the point where charges
could be filed. In the interim, the alleged violation of
the law continues."
According to the bill's sponsor, the Los Angeles City
Attorney's Office:
"For years, the Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney
has acted as the state's 'little Attorney General's
office.' It is the largest municipal law office in the
state representing the largest city in the state. The
prosecutors in this Office protect Californians by
handling significant cases that are not handled
elsewhere. Unlike District Attorneys or the Attorney
General, however, the Los Angeles City Attorney does not
have the legal authority to compel testimony or the
production of records through a criminal grand jury.
This increases both the length of time and the amount of
money needed to properly conduct an investigation. In
the interim, the bad actors are able to continue
violating the law."
The sponsor's intent is that a grand jury created through
this bill would handle significant cases and not routine
misdemeanors.
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RJG:mw 5/25/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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