BILL ANALYSIS
AB 250
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 250 (Miller)
As Amended May 7, 2009
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 7-0
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|Ayes:|Solorio, Hagman, | | |
| |Furutani, Anderson, Hill, | | |
| |Ma, Skinner | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires that the withdrawal of a general time waiver
be done in open court, and that a trial date be set and that all
parties be properly notified of the trial date.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States that both the people and a defendant have a right to a
speedy and public trial.
2)Provides that in a felony case, when a defendant is not
brought to trial within 60 days of the defendant's arraignment
on an indictment or information, or in the case the cause is
to be tried again following a mistrial, the court shall,
unless good cause to the contrary is shown, order that the
case be dismissed.
3)Provides that if the defendant enters a general time waiver to
the 60-day trial requirement, and if the defendant, after
proper notice to all parties, later withdraws his or her
waiver in the superior court, the defendant shall be brought
to trial within 60 days of that withdrawal.
4)Provides that in a misdemeanor case, regardless of when the
complaint was filed, if the defendant is not brought to trial
within 30 days of arraignment if the defendant is in custody,
or within 45 days of arraignment if the defendant is not in
custody, the court shall dismiss the case.
5)Provides that if the defendant enters a general time waiver to
the 30-day or 45-day trial requirement, and if the defendant,
after proper notice to all parties, later withdraws his or her
AB 250
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waiver, the defendant shall be brought to trial within 30 of
that withdrawal.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Penal Code Section 1382
describes a defendant's right to a speedy trial. Specifically,
Penal Code Section 1382(a)(2)(A) (felony cases) and
Section1382(a)(3)(A) (misdemeanor cases) provide that a
defendant may enter a general time waiver, entitling the court
to set or continue a trial date without the sanction of
dismissal should the case fail to proceed on the date set for
trial. The statutes further provide that a defendant who
withdraws such a waiver, after proper notice to all parties,
shall be brought to trial within 60 days (felony cases) or 30
days (misdemeanor cases) of the date of that withdrawal or the
court shall order the action dismissed. The statutes do not
specify that the withdrawal must be made in open court nor does
it specify a minimum period of notice before the withdrawal
becomes effective.
"In Arias v. Superior Court of Orange County, 84 Cal. Rptr.3d
264, the Court granted the petitioner's writ of mandate to
compel the trial court to grant his motion to dismiss based on
failure to bring the matter to trial within the time specified
by Penal Code Section 1382.
"Prosecution offices are facing increased workloads due to the
filing of more cases and reductions in the number of deputy
district attorneys because of fiscal difficulties. For these
reasons, vertical prosecution (one deputy handles the case from
charging to sentencing) is even more rare than it used to be,
especially in garden-variety cases. As a result, deputies are
handling large numbers of case files at any given time, and they
often see the file for the first time only a few days before the
next scheduled proceeding. If a general time waiver is filed
only in writing and not in open court, the distinct probability
exists that it will be placed in the file, only to be seen a few
days or hours before the 30- or 60-day period lapses."
Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this
bill.
AB 250
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Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0000715