BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 905
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 10, 2014
Counsel: Sandy Uribe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
SB 905 (Knight) - As Introduced: January 17, 2014
SUMMARY : Rewrites the provision of law criminalizing an assault
committed by a prison inmate either by means of force likely to
produce great bodily injury or with a deadly weapon, by creating
separate and distinct subdivisions.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States that, except as otherwise provided, every person
confined in a state prison who commits an assault upon another
person either with a deadly weapon or instrument, or by means
of force likely to produce great bodily injury, is guilty of a
felony and will be punished by imprisonment in state prison
for two, four, or six years to be served consecutively to the
term being served when the assault was committed. (Pen. Code,
� 4501.)
2)Provides that any person who commits an assault upon another
person with a deadly weapon or instrument other than a firearm
will be punished by imprisonment in state prison for two,
three, or four years, or in a county jail for up to one year,
or by a fine not exceeding $10,000, or by both the fine and
imprisonment. (Pen. Code, � 245(a)(1).)
3)Provides that any person who commits an assault upon another
person by any means of force likely to produce great bodily
injury will be punished by imprisonment in state prison for
two, three, or four years, or in a county jail for up to one
year, or by a fine not exceeding $10,000, or by both the fine
and imprisonment. (Pen. Code, � 245(a)(4).)
4)States that defendant convicted of a serious felony will
receive a five-year sentence enhancement for each prior
serious felony conviction. (Pen. Code, � 667, subd. (a).)
5)States that if a defendant is convicted of a felony offense
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and he or she has previously been convicted of two or more
serious or violent offenses, as specified, the court shall
impose an indeterminate term of life in prison with the
minimum term of 25 years. Where the defendant has a single
serious prior serious or violent felony, the court shall
double the defendant's prison term. (Pen. Code, �� 667,
subds. (b)-(i) and 1170.12.)
6)Includes in the list of serious felonies the crime of assault
with a deadly weapon by an inmate. (Pen. Code, � 1192.7,
subd. (c)(13).)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "SB 905 cleans
up Penal Code Section 4501, addressing the difficulty
prosecutors face when determining whether or not a previous
conviction qualifies as a serious felony under California's
Three Strikes law. SB 905 does not create new felonies, nor
does it expand punishments for existing felonies; it merely
clarifies an ambiguous code section.
"PC �4501 addresses assault crimes committed by prison inmates.
This statute currently contains one paragraph that covers both
assault on a person with a deadly weapon and assault by means
of force likely to produce great bodily injury. Under
California law, assault with a deadly weapon is a serious
felony and thus a strike under the Three Strikes law, while an
assault by force is not. Because 4501 does not include
separate subdivisions for each form of assault, a defendant's
prior conviction (and whether or not it constitutes a serious
felony) cannot be determined efficiently, causing confusion
for prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges.
"Subsequently, defendants are sometimes incorrectly charged with
strike priors even though they don't qualify; furthermore,
this clogs the court system with cases that should be settled
at an early date.
"In 2011 Governor Brown signed AB 1026 (Knight), which provided
the same clarification to crimes committed in the public
sector (PC �245). SB 905 follows suit by making the same
change to the corresponding Penal Code, preventing the same
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confusion and court delays when a crime occurs within a
California state prison.
"This change will make assessment of prior 4501 convictions more
efficient, leading to more accurate and speedier dispositions
of criminal cases."
2)Determining the Nature of Prior Convictions : There are cases
where a defendant's prior conviction may or may not count as a
"strike" for purposes of enhanced punishment, depending on his
or her conduct in the prior offense. To determine whether a
prior conviction qualifies as a strike, the present court
examines the otherwise admissible evidence from entire record
of the prior conviction to determine whether the acts actually
committed constitute a serious felony. (People v. Guerrero
(1988) 44 Cal.3d 343, 352.) But, if the record does not
disclose the facts of the offense actually committed, the
present court must presume that the convicted rested only on
the least statutory elements necessary for that conviction.
(People v. Myers (1993) 5 Cal.4th 1193, 1200.)
One may commit an assault in two ways that would not qualify as
"serious" felonies under section 1192.7, subdivision (c):
First, one may aid and abet the assault without personally
inflicting great bodily harm or using a firearm. Second, one
may commit the assault with force "likely" to cause great
bodily injury without, however, actually causing great bodily
injury or using a deadly weapon. (People v. Rodriguez (1998)
17 Cal.4th 253, 261.)
As currently drafted, Penal Code section 4015 proscribes
assaults committed by inmates in either one of two way (with
a deadly weapon, or by means of force likely to produce great
bodily injury) in the same subdivision. (Pen. Code, � 4501.)
This bill reorganizes Penal Code Section 4015 into separate
subdivisions to allow the parties to determine the nature of
the prior conviction by determining the specific statutory
provision under which the conviction occurred.
3)Argument in Support : According to the California District
Attorneys Association , the sponsor of this bill, "SB 905 will
make it easier for prosecutors and defense attorneys to
determine whether or not a defendant's prior conviction for
assault under Penal Code Section 4501 involved assault with a
deadly weapon, or assault with force likely to produce great
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bodily injury. This is a critical distinction, because
assault under the deadly weapon theory is classified as a
serious felony, while the force likely theory is not.
"The consequences that flow from an offense being classified as
a 'serious' felony are substantial. In addition to certain
sentencing requirements, a serious felony may affect
restraining orders and subject the offender to employment
restrictions. Thus, it is important that information about
the nature of the prior offense is available to all parties."
4)Prior Legislation : AB 1026 (Knight), Chapter 183, Statutes of
2011, reorganized provisions of law relating to assault with
force likely to produce great bodily injury (GBI) and assault
with a deadly weapon (ADW) by creating separate and distinct
subdivisions.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California District Attorneys Association (Sponsor)
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744