BILL NUMBER: SB 1474	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 25, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 11, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 29, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hancock
   (Coauthors: Senators DeSaulnier, Leno, and Pavley)

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to amend Sections 781 and 923 of the Penal Code, relating
to grand jury proceedings.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1474, as amended, Hancock. Grand jury proceedings: Attorney
General: powers and duties.
   Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to convene the grand
jury to investigate and consider certain criminal matters. The
Attorney General is authorized to take full charge of the
presentation of the matters to the grand jury, issue subpoenas,
prepare indictments, and do all other things incident thereto to the
same extent as the district attorney may do. Existing law authorizes
the Attorney General to  empanel   impanel 
a special grand jury to investigate, consider, or issue indictments
for specified activities relating to Medi-Cal fraud.
   This bill also would authorize the Attorney General to convene a
special grand jury, as prescribed, for cases involving fraud or theft
that  occurs   occur  in more than one
county  and where all potential charges could not otherwise
be brought in a single county  and were conducted by a
single defendant or multiple defendants acting in concert. 
The bill would establish the Attorney General's Special Grand Jury
Fund in the State Treasury and would require each defendant convicted
of charges brought by a special grand jury to pay a fine of $500
into that fund, to be deposited into the General Fund and used upon
appropriation of the Legislature. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 781 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   781.  Except as provided in Section 923, when a public offense is
committed in part in one jurisdictional territory and in part in
another, or the acts or effects thereof constituting or requisite to
the consummation of the offense occur in two or more jurisdictional
territories, the jurisdiction of the offense is in any competent
court within either jurisdictional territory.
  SEC. 2.  Section 923 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   923.  (a) Whenever the Attorney General considers that the public
interest requires, he or she may, with or without the concurrence of
the district attorney, direct the grand jury to convene for the
investigation and consideration of those matters of a criminal nature
that he or she desires to submit to it. He or she may take full
charge of the presentation of the matters to the grand jury, issue
subpoenas, prepare indictments, and do all other things incident
thereto to the same extent as the district attorney may do.
   (b) Whenever the Attorney General considers that the public
interest requires, he or she may, with or without the concurrence of
the district attorney, petition the court to impanel a special grand
jury to investigate, consider, or issue indictments for any of the
activities subject to fine, imprisonment, or asset forfeiture under
Section 14107 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. He or she may
take full charge of the presentation of the matters to the grand
jury, issue subpoenas, prepare indictments, and do all other things
incident thereto to the same extent as the district attorney may do.
If the evidence presented to the grand jury shows the commission of
an offense or offenses for which jurisdiction would be in a county
other than the county where the grand jury is impaneled, the Attorney
General, with or without the concurrence of the district attorney in
the county with jurisdiction over the offense or offenses, may
petition the court to impanel a special grand jury in that county.
Notwithstanding any other  provision of  law, upon
request of the Attorney General, a grand jury convened by the
Attorney General pursuant to this subdivision may submit confidential
information obtained by that grand jury, including, but not limited
to  ,  documents and testimony, to a second grand jury that
has been impaneled at the request of the Attorney General pursuant to
this subdivision in any other county where venue for an offense or
offenses shown by evidence presented to the first grand jury is
proper. All confidentiality provisions governing information,
testimony, and evidence presented to a grand jury shall be applicable
 ,  except as expressly permitted by this subdivision. The
Attorney General shall inform the grand jury that transmits
confidential information and the grand jury that receives
confidential information of any exculpatory evidence, as required by
Section 939.71. The grand jury that transmits information to another
grand jury shall include the exculpatory evidence disclosed by the
Attorney General in the transmission of the confidential information.
The Attorney General shall inform both the grand jury transmitting
the confidential information and the grand jury receiving that
information of their duties under Section 939.7. A special grand jury
convened pursuant to this subdivision shall be in addition to the
other grand juries authorized by this chapter or Chapter 2
(commencing with Section 893).
   (c) Whenever the Attorney General considers that the public
interest requires, he or she may, with or without the concurrence of
the district attorney, impanel a special grand jury to investigate,
consider, or issue indictments in matters in which there are multiple
activities, in which fraud or theft is a material element, that have
occurred in more than one county and  were  conducted
either by a single defendant or multiple defendants acting in
concert.
   (1) This special grand jury may be impaneled in the Counties of
Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, or San Francisco, at the
Attorney General's discretion.  A special grand jury
  impaneled under this section shall serve for a
term of 18 months unless dismissed earlier by the Attorney General.
Upon notice by the Attorney General to the grand jury coordinator or
presiding judge of the county where the special grand jury is
impaneled, the special grand jury's term can be extended by up to six
months. This special grand jury is subject to the requirements of
Sections 888.2, 893, and 940.   When impaneling a
special grand jury pursuant to this subdivision, the Attorney General
shall use an existing regularly impaneled grand jury to serve as the
special grand jury an   d make arrangements with the grand
jury coordinator in the applicable county, or with the presiding
judge or whoever is charged with scheduling the grand jury hearings,
in order to ensure orderly coordination and use of the grand jurors'
time for both regular grand jury duties and special grand jury
duties. Whenever the Attorney General impanels a special grand jury,
the prosecuting attorney representing the Attorney General shall
inform the special grand jury at the outset of the case that the
special grand jury is acting as a special grand jury with statewide
jurisdiction. 
   (2) For special grand juries impaneled pursuant to this
subdivision, the Attorney General may issue subpoenas for documents
and witnesses located anywhere in the state in order to obtain
evidence to present to the special grand jury. The special grand jury
may hear all evidence in the form of testimony or physical evidence
presented to the special grand jury, irrespective of the location of
the witness or physical evidence prior to subpoena. The special grand
jury impaneled pursuant to this subdivision may indict a person or
persons with charges for crimes that occurred in counties other than
where the special grand jury is impaneled. The indictment shall then
be submitted to the appropriate court in any of the counties where
any of the charges could otherwise have been properly brought. The
court where the indictment is filed under this subdivision shall have
proper jurisdiction over all counts in the indictment.
   (3) Notwithstanding Section 944, an indictment found by a special
grand jury and endorsed as a true bill by the special grand jury
foreperson, may be presented to the appropriate court, as set forth
in paragraph (2), solely by the prosecutor and within five court days
of the endorsement of the indictment. For indictments presented to
the court in this manner, the prosecutor shall also file with the
court or court clerk, at the time of presenting the indictment, an
affidavit signed by the special grand jury foreperson attesting that
all the jurors who voted on the indictment heard all of the evidence
presented by the prosecutor, and that a proper number of jurors voted
for the indictment pursuant to Section 940. The Attorney General's
office shall be responsible for prosecuting an indictment produced by
the special grand jury.
   (4) If a defendant makes a timely and successful challenge to the
Attorney General's right to convene a special grand jury by clearly
demonstrating that the charges brought are not encompassed by this
subdivision, the court shall dismiss the indictment without prejudice
to the Attorney General, who may bring the same or other charges
against the defendant at a later date by way of another special grand
jury, properly convened, or a regular grand jury, or by any other
procedure available.
   (5) The provisions of Section 939.71 shall apply to the special
grand jury.
   (6) Unless otherwise set forth in this section, a law applying to
a regular grand jury impaneled pursuant to Section 23 of Article I of
the California Constitution shall apply to a special grand jury
unless the application of the law to a special grand jury would
substantially interfere with the execution of one or more of the
provisions of this section. If there is substantial interference, the
provision governing the special grand jury will govern.
   (7) A special grand jury convened pursuant to this subdivision
shall be in addition to the other grand juries authorized by this
chapter or Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 893).
   (d)  (1)    Upon certification
by the Attorney General, a statement of the costs directly related to
the impanelment and activities of the grand jury pursuant to
subdivisions (b) and (c) from the presiding judge of the superior
court where the grand jury was impaneled shall be submitted for state
reimbursement of the costs to the county. To be reimbursed, the
costs shall be itemized, and be no more than what would be charged to
a regularly impaneled grand jury convened by the county pursuant to
Section 23 of Article I of the California Constitution, unless an
alternative payment arrangement is agreed upon by the county and the
Attorney General. 
   (2) A defendant convicted on charges brought by a special grand
jury pursuant to this section shall pay a fine of five hundred
dollars ($500), which shall be assessed by the court and transmitted
to the Attorney General's Special Grand Jury Fund, which is hereby
established in the State Treasury, to be used upon appropriation of
the Legislature.