Committee narrows bill to let judges weigh continuances in human‑trafficking prosecutions

Assemblymember Davies’ AB 16 56 returned to the Senate Public Safety Committee with negotiated amendments designed to preserve vertical prosecution while protecting defendants’ speedy‑trial rights.

Dan Owens of the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office described the measure as a “common sense” victim‑protection bill that would allow prosecutors who build trust with trafficking survivors to remain with a case when feasible. Owens and other supporters said vertical prosecution improves trauma‑informed handling of victims and helps maintain continuity at every stage of a case.

Opponents including Ilona Yanez, a San Francisco deputy public defender, and representatives from the ACLU and public‑defender associations argued that broadening continuance exceptions risks delaying trials, undermining speedy‑trial rights, and creating unequal effects across jurisdictions. Yanez warned that adding human trafficking to good‑cause exceptions could be used to delay cases even where the victim does not support a continuance.

Senator Caballero and others pressed for additional safeguards such as requiring proof of an actual prosecutorial relationship to the victim before a judge grants a continuance. The author and the DA’s office said the amendments limit continuances to specific circumstances — when the assigned prosecutor is engaged in another preliminary hearing, trial, or motion to suppress — and cap relief to one continuance no longer than ten days.

After debate the committee moved AB 16 56 as amended (motion to “pass as amended to the floor”) while keeping the bill on call for absent members. The committee record shows persistent disagreements about tradeoffs between continuity for victims and defendants’ constitutional rights; members encouraged continued negotiation on language that documents a prosecutor‑victim relationship where practicable.