BILL NUMBER: AB 2532 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Quirk
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to amend Section 679 of the Penal Code, relating to crimes.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2532, as introduced, Quirk. Victims and witnesses of crime.
Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to ensure that
all victims and witnesses of crime are treated with dignity, respect,
courtesy, and sensitivity, and establishes specified statutory
rights of victims and witnesses of crime.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 679 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
679. In recognition of the civil and moral duty of victims and
witnesses of crime to fully and voluntarily cooperate with law
enforcement and prosecutorial agencies, and in further recognition of
the continuing importance of this citizen cooperation to state and
local law enforcement efforts and the general effectiveness and
well-being of the criminal justice system of this state, the
Legislature declares its intent, in the enactment of this title, to
ensure that all victims and witnesses of crime are treated with
dignity, respect, courtesy, and sensitivity. It is the
further the intent that the rights enumerated in
Section 679.02 relating to victims and witnesses of crime are
honored and protected by law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and
judges in a manner no less vigorous than the protections afforded
criminal defendants. It is the intent of the Legislature to add to
Section 679.02 references to new rights as
as, or as soon after after, they
are created. The failure to enumerate in that section a right
which that is enumerated elsewhere in
the law shall not be deemed to diminish the importance or
enforceability of that right.