Brown Signs Bill to Fight Human Trafficking

By Bay City News Service:

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill authored by Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, that provides for a conditional examination of a victim or material witness in a human trafficking case when there is evidence the witness has been dissuaded from testifying.

Assembly Bill 1610 was sponsored by Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, who said victims of human trafficking represent a highly vulnerable population and preservation of their testimony at an early stage of a prosecution is often necessary to ensure a just adjudication of the cases. O’Malley said in a statement that trials are frequently delayed and cases may not go to trial for months or even years after it has been filed because victims are often not residents of the county in which offenses take place and are often trafficked by their exploiter from city to city and from state to state.

In addition, O’Malley said, victims may be subject to implied or actual threats from their exploiters as a means to coerce them into remaining with the exploiter or keeping them from testifying in court. She said existing law provides that a defendant or the prosecution may have witnesses examined conditionally under certain circumstances.

AB 1610 amends current law to include “a victim or witness to a felony prosecution involving human trafficking, commercial sex acts or forced labor or services” to the category of persons permitted to conditionally testify, O’Malley said. By allowing the defendant and the district attorney the opportunity to conduct examinations of a witness at an early stage, before a trial ever begins, the state ensures that the testimony is preserved if the witness becomes unavailable at the time of the trial, according to O’Malley.

Bonta said in a statement, “Victims of human trafficking are a very vulnerable population subject to being harassed, coerced, or physically harmed or killed to prevent them from testifying in criminal prosecutions. AB 1610 preserves testimony to ensure that offenders do not get away with abuse.”

In addition to signing Bonta’s bill on Sunday, Brown also signed six other bills that he said are aimed at better protecting victims of human trafficking and supporting education, prevention and law enforcement efforts to fight human trafficking.

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