Amended in Senate April 2, 2014

Senate Bill No. 1302

Introduced by Senator Wyland

February 21, 2014

An act to begin delete amend Section 368 of the Penal Code, end delete begin insert add Section 15657.4 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, end insert relating to elder abuse.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1302, as amended, Wyland. Elder begin insert financial end insert abuse.

begin insert

The Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act authorizes compensatory damages and other relief for an elder or dependent adult who suffers financial abuse. The act defines financial abuse as, among other actions, taking, secreting, appropriating, obtaining, or retaining real or personal property of an elder or dependent adult for a wrongful use or with intent to defraud, or both.

end insert begin insert

This bill would require a court to notify the district attorney in the relevant jurisdiction of a civil judgment or settlement based on a violation of any state elder financial abuse law.

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Under existing law, a person who is a caretaker of an elder or dependent adult who violates any law proscribing theft, embezzlement, forgery, fraud, or specified identify theft laws, is subject to a fine not exceeding $1,000, by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment when the moneys, labor, goods, services, or real or personal property taken or obtained is of a value not exceeding $950.

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This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 15657.4 is added to the end insert begin insert Welfare and
Institutions Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 15657.4. end insert   

The court shall notify the district attorney of the
relevant jurisdiction of a civil judgment or settlement based on a
violation of any state elder financial abuse law.

end insert

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 368 of the Penal Code is amended to
read:

368.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that crimes against
elders and dependent adults are deserving of special consideration
and protection, not unlike the special protections provided for
minor children, because elders and dependent adults may be
confused, on various medications, mentally or physically impaired,
or incompetent, and therefore less able to protect themselves, to
understand or report criminal conduct, or to testify in court
proceedings on their own behalf.

(b) (1) A person who knows or reasonably should know that a
person is an elder or dependent adult and who, under circumstances
or conditions likely to produce great bodily harm or death, willfully
causes or permits any elder or dependent adult to suffer, or inflicts
thereon unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering, or having
the care or custody of any elder or dependent adult, willfully causes
or permits the person or health of the elder or dependent adult to
be injured, or willfully causes or permits the elder or dependent
adult to be placed in a situation in which his or her person or health
is endangered, is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year, or by a fine not to exceed six thousand dollars
($6,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment, or by
imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years.

(2) If in the commission of an offense described in paragraph
(1), the victim suffers great bodily injury, as defined in Section
12022.7, the defendant shall receive an additional term in the state
prison as follows:

(A) Three years if the victim is under 70 years of age.

(B) Five years if the victim is 70 years of age or older.

(3) If in the commission of an offense described in paragraph
(1), the defendant proximately causes the death of the victim, the
defendant shall receive an additional term in the state prison as
follows:

(A) Five years if the victim is under 70 years of age.

(B) Seven years if the victim is 70 years of age or older.

(c) A person who knows or reasonably should know that a
person is an elder or dependent adult and who, under circumstances
or conditions other than those likely to produce great bodily harm
or death, willfully causes or permits an elder or dependent adult
to suffer, or inflicts thereon unjustifiable physical pain or mental
suffering, or having the care or custody of an elder or dependent
adult, willfully causes or permits the person or health of the elder
or dependent adult to be injured or willfully causes or permits the
elder or dependent adult to be placed in a situation in which his or
her person or health may be endangered, is guilty of a
misdemeanor. A second or subsequent violation of this subdivision
is punishable by a fine not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000),
or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by
both that fine and imprisonment.

(d) A person who is not a caretaker who violates any law
proscribing theft, embezzlement, forgery, or fraud, or who violates
Section 530.5 proscribing identity theft, with respect to the property
or personal identifying information of an elder or a dependent
adult, and who knows or reasonably should know that the victim
is an elder or a dependent adult, is punishable as follows:

(1) By a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars
($2,500), or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one
year, or by both that fine and imprisonment, or by a fine not
exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment
pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for two, three, or four
years, or by both that fine and imprisonment, when the moneys,
labor, goods, services, or real or personal property taken or obtained
is of a value exceeding nine hundred fifty dollars ($950).

(2) By a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both
that fine and imprisonment, when the moneys, labor, goods,
services, or real or personal property taken or obtained is of a value
not exceeding nine hundred fifty dollars ($950).

(e) A caretaker of an elder or a dependent adult who violates
any law proscribing theft, embezzlement, forgery, or fraud, or who
violates Section 530.5 proscribing identity theft, with respect to
the property or personal identifying information of that elder or
dependent adult, is punishable as follows:

(1) By a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars
($2,500), or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one
year, or by both that fine and imprisonment, or by a fine not
exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment
pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for two, three, or four
years, or by both that fine and imprisonment, when the moneys,
labor, goods, services, or real or personal property taken or obtained
is of a value exceeding nine hundred fifty dollars ($950).

(2) By a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both
that fine and imprisonment, when the moneys, labor, goods,
services, or real or personal property taken or obtained is of a value
not exceeding nine hundred fifty dollars ($950).

(f) A person who commits the false imprisonment of an elder
or a dependent adult by the use of violence, menace, fraud, or
deceit is punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h)
of Section 1170 for two, three, or four years.

(g) As used in this section, “elder” means a person who is 65
years of age or older.

(h) As used in this section, “dependent adult” means a person
who is between 18 and 64 years of age, who has physical or mental
limitations that restrict his or her ability to carry out normal
activities or to protect his or her rights, including, but not limited
to, persons who have physical or developmental disabilities or
whose physical or mental abilities have diminished because of
age. “Dependent adult” includes a person between 18 and 64 years
of age who is admitted as an inpatient to a 24-hour health facility,
as defined in Sections 1250, 1250.2, and 1250.3 of the Health and
Safety Code.

(i) As used in this section, “caretaker” means a person who has
the care, custody, or control of, or who stands in a position of trust
with, an elder or a dependent adult.

(j) Nothing in this section shall preclude prosecution under both
this section and Section 187 or 12022.7 or any other law. However,
a person shall not receive an additional term of imprisonment under
both paragraphs (2) and (3) of subdivision (b) for any single
offense, nor shall a person receive an additional term of
imprisonment under both Section 12022.7 and paragraph (2) or
(3) of subdivision (b) for any single offense.

(k) In any case in which a person is convicted of violating these
provisions, the court may require him or her to receive appropriate
counseling as a condition of probation. A defendant ordered to be
placed in a counseling program shall be responsible for paying the
expense of his or her participation in the counseling program as
determined by the court. The court shall take into consideration
the ability of the defendant to pay, and no defendant shall be denied
probation because of his or her inability to pay.

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