BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1474
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1474 (Hancock)
As Amended August 23, 2012
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :38-0
PUBLIC SAFETY 4-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Knight, Hagman, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, |
| |Skinner | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| | | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Davis, Donnelly, Fuentes, |
| | | |Hall, Hill, Cedillo, |
| | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
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SUMMARY : Allows the Attorney General (AG) to convene a
statewide grand jury in cases of theft or fraud where the same
defendant or defendants committed the offense in multiple
counties. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that the AG may impanel a statewide 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
buy one or multiple actors. The AG may convene this statewide
grand jury without the consent of the local prosecutor.
2)Specifies that the statewide grand jury may be impaneled in
the Counties of Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, or
San Francisco, at the AG's discretion.
3)States that when impaneling a statewide grand jury the AG
shall use an existing regularly impaneled grand jury to serve
as the special grand jury and make arrangements with the grand
jury coordinator on the applicable county, or with the
presiding judge or whoever is charged with scheduling the
grand jury hearings, in order to endure orderly coordination
and use of grand jurors' time for both regular grand jury
duties and special grand jury duties.
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4)Provides that whenever the AG impanels a statewide grand jury,
the prosecuting attorney representing the AG shall inform the
statewide grand jury at the outset of the case that they are
acting as a grand jury with statewide jurisdiction.
5)Provides that the AG may issue subpoenas for documents and
witnesses located anywhere in the state in order to obtain
evidence to present to the statewide grand jury. The
statewide grand jury may hear all evidence in the form of
testimony or physical evidence prior to subpoena.
6)Provides jurisdiction for the statewide grand jury to indict a
person or persons with charges for crimes that occurred in
counties other than where the statewide 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.
7)States that if a defendant makes a timely and successful
challenge to the AG's right to convene a statewide grand jury
by clearly demonstrating that the charges brought are not
encompassed by this bill, the court shall dismiss the
indictment without prejudice to the AG who may bring the same
or other charges against the defendant at a later date by way
of another statewide grand jury, properly convened, or a
regular grand jury, or by any other procedure available.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that one or more grand juries shall be drawn and
summoned at least once a year in each county.
2)Provides that in any county, or city and 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 AG or the district attorney, or upon his or her
own motion, order and direct the impanelment of one additional
grand jury.
3)States that in any county having a population of more than
370,000 but less than 400,000, as established by the
Government Code, the presiding judge of the superior court,
upon application by the district attorney, may order and
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direct the drawing and impanelment at any time of one
additional grand jury.
4)Provides that the presiding judge may 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. When a sufficient number of competent
persons have been selected, they shall constitute the
additional grand jury.
5)States that in no event shall more than one additional grand
jury be impaneled pursuant to this section at the same time.
6)Provides that whenever an additional grand jury is impaneled
pursuant to this section, it shall inquire into any matters
that are subject to grand jury inquiry and shall have the sole
and exclusive jurisdiction to return indictments, except for
any matters that the regular grand jury is inquiring into at
the time of its impanelment.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor costs, likely less than $150,000 to reimburse
counties and/or state trial courts, per existing law, for
special grand jury expenses, such as per diem and mileage.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "In an effort to combat
widespread financial abuses that have occurred in the midst of
the most severe mortgage crisis in decades, the Attorney
General's Office is engaged in the investigation of significant
financial crimes of statewide scope and impact. Unfortunately,
existing county grand jury authority to investigate these crimes
is ill-suited to the needs of these cases as crimes of a
financial nature often occur in multiple jurisdictions, and thus
are often beyond the scope of single-county grand juries.
Advances in technology, especially the internet, have also made
it much easier for bad actors to commit theft or fraud across
many counties in California. SB 1474 empowers the Attorney
General to impanel Statewide Grand Jury in certain counties to
investigate crimes involving theft or fraud committed across
multiple jurisdictions. This will allow the AG to investigate
widespread financial crimes in an efficient and cost-effective
manner not possible under current law, providing protection for
Californians at a time they need it most."
SB 1474
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Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0005397