Bill Text: CA AB47 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Emergency services: hit-and-run incidents.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2014-09-30 - Vetoed by Governor. [AB47 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB47-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 47	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 20, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 9, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 18, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 13, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gatto

                        DECEMBER 19, 2012

   An act to add Section 653.01 to the Penal Code, relating to
crimes.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 47, as amended, Gatto. Emergency telephone system: abuse.
   Under existing law, any person who knowingly allows the use of, or
who uses, the 911 telephone system for any reason other than because
of an emergency is guilty of an infraction. Any person who uses the
911 telephone system with the intent to annoy or harass another
person is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding
$1,000, by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 6 months,
or by both that fine and imprisonment.
   This bill would make any person who calls the 911 telephone system
to dispatch a police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical
service personnel response to a residence or place of business where
there is no emergency, with the intent to annoy or harass another
person, and police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical
service personnel are dispatched as a result of the call, guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding $2,000, by
imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by both
that fine and imprisonment. Under the bill, the person responsible
for that call is guilty of an offense punishable by a fine not
exceeding $10,000, by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one
year, or for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years, or by both that fine and
imprisonment, if any person sustained great bodily injury as a result
of conduct arising out of and in the course of the police, sheriff,
fire department, or emergency medical service dispatch. The bill
would define "annoy  and   or  harass" as
knowing and willful conduct directed at a specific person, or his or
her family members, that seriously alarms, annoys, torments, or
terrorizes the person, or his or her family members, and that serves
no legitimate purpose. This bill would require, upon conviction, that
the person shall also be liable for all reasonable costs incurred by
any unnecessary emergency response. This bill would exempt from its
provisions telephone calls made in good faith. By increasing the
penalty for an existing crime, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 653.01 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
   653.01.  (a) Any person who calls the 911 telephone system to
dispatch a police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical
service personnel response to a residence or place of business where
there is no emergency, with the intent to annoy or harass another
person and if police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical
service personnel are dispatched as a result of the telephone call,
is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than two
thousand dollars ($2,000), by imprisonment in a county jail for not
more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
   (b) Any person who calls the 911 telephone system to dispatch a
police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical service
personnel response to a residence or place of business where there is
no emergency, with the intent to annoy or harass another person and
if police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical service
personnel are dispatched and any person sustains great bodily injury
as a result of conduct arising out of and in the course of the
police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical service
personnel being dispatched to the residence or place of business, is
guilty of an offense punishable by a fine of not more than ten
thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year, or, pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170,
for 16 months, or two or three years, or by both that fine and
imprisonment.
   (c) This section does not preclude punishment under any other law
providing for greater punishment, including, but not limited to,
involuntary manslaughter as defined in subdivision (b) of Section
192.
   (d) For purposes of this section, "emergency" means any condition
in which emergency services will result in the saving of a life, a
reduction in the destruction of property, quicker apprehension of
criminals, or assistance with potentially life-threatening medical
problems, a fire, a need for rescue, an imminent potential crime, or
a similar situation in which immediate assistance is required.
   (e) For purposes of this section, "annoy  and 
 or  harass" means knowing and willful conduct directed at a
specific person, or his or her family members, that seriously
alarms, annoys, torments, or terrorizes the person, or his or her
family members, and that serves no legitimate purpose.
   (f) Upon conviction of this section, a person shall also be liable
for all reasonable costs, including property damage, incurred by an
unnecessary police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical
service personnel response.
   (g) This section shall not apply to telephone calls made in good
faith.
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.