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Governor Signs Pilot Program Bill that Allows All Defendants to Challenge Arrest

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.

Jones-Sawyer’s Measure D Medical Cannabis Bill Headed to Governor’s Desk

SACRAMENTO, Calif., – Assembly Bill 2385, by Assembly Member Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer Sr., has successfully passed out of both the California State Senate and State Assembly and is on its way to the Governor's desk.  If signed into law, the bill would approve the state licensure of various medical cannabis businesses in the City of Los Angeles. 

The City of Los Angeles failed multiple times to regulate medical cannabis, but finally in 2013 it passed Measure D-- a ballot measure that allowed 135 dispensaries, all of which had been in business since 2007, to remain open, while banning others.  This measure, however, did not actually permit those 135 dispensaries to operate — which legal experts said, at the time, the city could not do because cannabis remains illegal under federal law.  Measure D merely said the city would not prosecute those 135 dispensaries.

Legislature Creates Program Allowing All Defendants to Challenge Arrest

SACRAMENTO, Calif., – On August 30th, by a vote of 56-10, the California State Assembly gave final passage to AB 2013 by Assembly member Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr., a bill that extends probable cause determination hearings to out-of-custody defendants.

Under existing law, a defendant can 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 scare court, public defender and district attorney resources on a meaningless trial.