Bill Text: CA SB922 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

California Senate Bill 922 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Criminal procedure: limitations of actions.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-08-20 - August 20 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. [SB922 Detail]

Download: California-2019-SB922-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate June 18, 2020

Amended IN Senate May 21, 2020

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 922

Introduced by Senator Chang
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Gonzalez)

February 04, 2020

An act to add Section 801.7 to the Penal Code, relating to criminal procedure.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 922, as amended, Chang. Criminal procedure: limitations of actions.

Existing law establishes various crimes relating to computer services and systems, including, among others, knowingly and without permission accessing or causing to be accessed any computer, computer system, or computer network. Existing law makes a person who, with the intent to extort property or other consideration from another, introduces ransomware, as defined, into a computer, computer system, or computer network punishable in the same manner as if that property or other consideration were actually obtained by means of the threat. Existing law requires that prosecution for a felony violation of these crimes be commenced within 3 years after the commission of the offense.

This bill would instead require the prosecution for a felony violation of those computer-related crimes to be commenced within 3 years after discovery of the commission of the offense, and would require the filing of a criminal complaint within 9 years of the commission of the offense. The bill would apply that 3 year statute of limitations to crimes that are committed on or after January 1, 2021, and to crimes for which the statute of limitations that was in effect prior to January 1, 2021, has not run as of January 1, 2021.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NO

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

SECTION 1.

Section 801.7 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

801.7.

(a) Notwithstanding Section 801 or any other law, prosecution for a felony offense described in Section 502 ~~or subdivision (b) of Section 523~~ shall be commenced within three years after discovery of the commission of the offense, provided, however, that in any case a complaint shall not be filed more than nine years after the commission of the offense.

(b) This section applies to crimes that are committed on or after January 1, 2021, and to crimes for which the statute of limitations that was in effect prior to January 1, 2021, has not elapsed as of January 1, 2021.