CA Falling Short Safeguarding Against Wrongful Convictions

In 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 97, proposed by Senator Scott Wiener (D11-San Francisco), which set to remove a number of significant barriers to overturning wrongful convictions. California led the nation in exonerations for wrongfully convicted people, overturning over 200 convictions from 1989 to 2013. However, the process to overturn a wrongful conviction in the state was complex and needlessly arduous.

The purpose of SB 97 was to streamline the process for the wrongly accused to have their convictions overturned. The bill directed judges to give great weight to a prosecutor's concession that a person has been wrongfully convicted, eliminate obstructive technical requirements to ensure that courts can fairly and fully examine newly discovered evidence, and give an exonerated person the ability to have continuous counsel if tried again.

A recent investigative report from Cal Matters indicates that a lack of defense investigators leaves California's intended response to prevent wrongful convictions unable to provide the promised safeguards.

Close to half of California’s 58 counties do not employ any full-time public defense investigators. Among the remaining counties, defendants’ access to investigators fluctuates wildly, but it’s almost always inadequate.

Highlights from the report:

• Of the 10 California counties with the highest prison incarceration rates, eight have no defense investigators on staff. Los Angeles County employed just 1 investigator for every 10 public defenders. Only seven California counties met the widely accepted minimum standard of 1 investigator for every 3 attorneys. 
• The situation is most alarming in the 25 California counties that don't have dedicated public defender offices.
• California, once a leader in public defense, has fallen behind.

You can read the full investigative report, "California is failing to provide a vital safeguard against wrongful convictions" at the Cal Matters website. CalMatters is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe, explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable.