SACRAMENTO, Calif., – Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law Assembly Bill 2013, by Assembly Member Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr., a measure that extends probable cause determination hearings to out-of-custody defendants charged with a misdemeanor.
Previously, a defendant charged with a misdemeanor could only challenge the probable cause of his/her arrest if that person is currently in custody. If an individual is arrested and released, they cannot challenge the probable cause of their arrest until trial, wasting scarce court, public defender and district attorney resources on a meaningless trial.