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Supervisors back resolution supporting SB 23 to ease prosecution of auto burglaries

Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee, San Francisco County · February 14, 2019

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Summary

The committee voted to forward a resolution supporting California SB 23, which would expand the definition of vehicle burglary to include unlawful entry (so a broken window can be sufficient evidence); the district attorney's office and sponsors said the bill closes a loophole that hampers prosecution of offenders who prey on tourists and residents.

Supervisor Valerie Brown presented a resolution supporting California Senate Bill 23, which would clarify the definition of auto burglary to cover entering a vehicle unlawfully with intent to steal. "San Francisco has the highest rate of property crimes in the state," Brown said, citing more than 32,000 auto break-ins in 2017, and said SB 23 "removes a wide loophole" that currently requires prosecutors to prove a vehicle was locked.

Tara Regan Anderson, director of policy for the District Attorney’s office, told the committee prosecutors must today prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a vehicle was locked to secure some convictions and that SB 23 would close that evidentiary gap. Anderson noted many auto-burglary victims are visitors (she cited approximately 25,000,000 visitors per year and that 55 percent of victims are not from San Francisco), which makes in-person testimony difficult and complicates prosecution.

Questions from supervisors probed whether the bill creates new felony exposure and whether it would widen the reach of the felony-murder rule. Anderson said the bill includes a carve-out intended to avoid expanding felony-murder liability in unintended ways; she said the sponsor and the DA’s office worked with the ACLU and the senator’s office to refine language. Vice Chair Supervisor Stephanie, a former prosecutor, said the measure helps prosecutors who otherwise cannot charge cases when certain elements cannot be proved. The committee voted to forward the resolution with a positive recommendation; Vice Chair Supervisor Stephanie moved the motion and it was taken without objection.