Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that expands criminal relief and legal defenses for survivors of human trafficking in California.

Highlights:

• Authorizes a victim of human trafficking to petition the court for vacatur relief of their convictions, arrests, and adjudications (Sec. 1).

• Requires the petition for relief be submitted under penalty of perjury and describe all of the available grounds and evidence that the petitioner was a victim of human trafficking (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes official documentation of a petitioner’s status as a victim of human trafficking to be introduced as evidence that their alleged participation in the offense was the result of their status as a victim of human trafficking (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes a person convicted of human trafficking to petition the court for vacatur relief of their convictions, arrests, and adjudications (Sec. 2).

• Requires an order of vacatur to do the following (Sec. 2):

• Set forth a finding that the petitioner was a victim of intimate partner violence or sexual violence at the time of the alleged commission of the qualifying crime offense and therefore lacked the requisite intent to commit the offense;

• Set aside the arrest, finding of guilt, or the adjudication and dismiss the accusation or information against the petitioner as invalid due to a legal defect at the time of the arrest or conviction; and

• Notify the Department of Justice that the petitioner was a victim of intimate partner violence or sexual violence at the crime time of the alleged commission of the offense and of the relief that has been ordered.

Full Bill Text