Criminal procedure: sentencing.

Assembly Member Bonta's legislation expands criminal procedure protections for victims of human trafficking, intimate partner violence, and sexual violence by allowing courts to vacate convictions for any offense committed while under coercion, not just nonviolent crimes. The bill modifies several sections of California's Penal Code to broaden eligibility for vacatur relief and strengthen record-sealing requirements.

The measure extends the ability to petition courts for vacating convictions and arrests beyond nonviolent offenses, provided petitioners can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the crimes were a direct result of their status as victims. Courts must find that petitioners lacked requisite intent to commit the offense due to their victim status and that vacating the conviction serves justice's interests.

For cases where courts grant relief, the bill requires expanded record sealing and destruction by law enforcement agencies, including departments of probation, rehabilitation, corrections, and parole. These agencies must seal records within one year of arrest or 90 days after the court order, whichever occurs later, and destroy them within one year of the court order. The Department of Justice must notify petitioners and their counsel upon completing the sealing process.

The legislation also modifies existing affirmative defense provisions, allowing defendants to assert coercion as a defense in violent felony cases, except for murder. Defendants must establish this defense by a preponderance of evidence showing they committed the offense under reasonable fear of harm while victims of trafficking, intimate partner violence, or sexual violence.