California 2021-2022 Regular Session Status: Enacted

AB 700 — Criminal procedure: arraignment and trial.

Last action — Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 196, Statutes of 2021.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Assembly
  4. ✓
    Passed Senate
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 16, 2021. Enacted.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 70% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

High

How often bills like it became law.

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 4 recorded votes so far.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

Existing provisions of the California Constitution provide a criminal defendant the right to be personally present with counsel at trial. Existing law requires a defendant to be present at a felony trial or preliminary hearing. Existing law, however, also authorizes a court to proceed, in the defendant's absence, with a trial or preliminary hearing that has commenced in the presence of the defendant, but from which the defendant is voluntarily absent or has been removed from the courtroom for disruptive behavior, as specified. This bill would specify that a trial or preliminary hearing shall be deemed to have "commenced in the presence" of a defendant who is in custody and refuses to appear in court, if the court makes certain specified findings on the record, by clear and convincing evidence. Existing law authorizes a court, in a misdemeanor case, to proceed in the defendant's absence, as specified, if a defendant has provided a waiver and is represented by counsel. This bill would allow the court to proceed, with or without a waiver, in any misdemeanor case in which the defendant is in custody and refuses to appear in court, if the court makes certain specified findings on the record, by clear and convincing evidence.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 196, Statutes of 2021.

  2. Approved by the Governor.

  3. Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4:30 p.m.

  4. In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling.

  5. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 36. Noes 0. Page 2114.).

  6. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  7. From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 0. Page 1721.) (June 29).

  8. Referred to Com. on PUB. S.

  9. In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

  10. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 1710.)

  11. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  12. Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

  13. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (April 27).

  14. In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.

  15. Referred to Com. on PUB. S.

  16. From printer. May be heard in committee March 19.

  17. Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

  • Cunningham · Primary

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 121 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

  • Cunningham

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (121)

121 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 121 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

3rd Reading AB700 Cunningham By Umberg

Passed 36 Yea · 0 Nay · 4 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 19004
Democratic 13000
Republican 4000
Total 36004
% of votes cast 90%0%0%10%
How each member voted (40)
Member Party Vote
Kamlager — Yea
Melendez — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Pan — Yea
Wilk — Yea
Borgeas — Yea
Skinner — Yea
Atkins — Yea
Min — Yea
Leyva — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Roth — Yea
Glazer — Yea
Hueso — Yea
Gonzalez — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Nielsen — Yea
Bates — Yea
Rubio — Yea
Wieckowski — Not Voting
Hertzberg — Not Voting
Newman — Not Voting
Dodd — Not Voting
Allen, Benjamin Democratic Yea
Archuleta, Bob Democratic Yea
Becker, Josh Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Cortese, Dave Democratic Yea
Durazo, Maria Elena Democratic Yea
Hurtado, Melissa Democratic Yea
Laird, John Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
McGuire, Mike Democratic Yea
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Yea
Umberg, Thomas J. Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Grove, Shannon Republican Yea
Jones, Brian W. Republican Yea
Ochoa Bogh, Rosilicie Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass

Passed 5 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Republican 1000
Democratic 1000
Unaffiliated 3000
Total 5000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (5)
Member Party Vote
Skinner — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Kamlager — Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea
Ochoa Bogh, Rosilicie Republican Yea

Official roll call →

AB 700 Cunningham Assembly Third Reading

Passed 78 Yea · 0 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 41000
Democratic 27001
Republican 10000
Total 78001
% of votes cast 99%0%0%1%
How each member voted (79)
Member Party Vote
Mayes — Yea
Frazier — Yea
Chau — Yea
Bloom — Yea
Mullin — Yea
Holden — Yea
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Wood — Yea
Smith — Yea
Cunningham — Yea
Cooper — Yea
Voepel — Yea
Cooley — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
Rodriguez — Yea
Kiley — Yea
Nazarian — Yea
Ting — Yea
O'Donnell — Yea
Waldron — Yea
Medina — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Bigelow — Yea
Chiu — Yea
Rendon — Yea
Villapudua — Yea
Salas — Yea
Quirk — Yea
Low — Yea
Levine — Yea
Daly — Yea
Gray — Yea
Burke — Yea
Mathis — Yea
Santiago — Yea
Cristina Garcia — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Lorena Gonzalez — Yea
Luz Rivas — Yea
Mark Stone — Yea
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Bauer-Kahan, Rebecca Democratic Yea
Bennett, Steve Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea
Boerner, Tasha Democratic Yea
Bryan, Isaac G. Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Carrillo, Juan Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Fong, Mike Democratic Yea
Gabriel, Jesse Democratic Yea
Gipson, Mike A. Democratic Yea
Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic Yea
Irwin, Jacqui Democratic Yea
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Lee, Alex Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Yea
Nguyen, Stephanie Democratic Yea
Petrie-Norris, Cottie Democratic Yea
Quirk-Silva, Sharon Democratic Yea
Ramos, James C. Democratic Not Voting
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Rivas, Robert Democratic Yea
Rubio, Blanca E. Democratic Yea
Ward, Christopher M. Democratic Yea
Weber Pierson, M.D., Akilah Democratic Yea
Wicks, Buffy Democratic Yea
Chen, Phillip Republican Yea
Choi, Steven S. Republican Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Davies, Laurie Republican Yea
Flora, Heath Republican Yea
Gallagher, James Republican Yea
Lackey, Tom Republican Yea
Patterson, Joe Republican Yea
Seyarto, Kelly Republican Yea
Valladares, Suzette Martinez Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

public-safety civil-rights
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does AB 700 do?
Existing provisions of the California Constitution provide a criminal defendant the right to be personally present with counsel at trial. Existing law requires a defendant to be present at a felony trial or preliminary hearing. Existing law, however, also authorizes a court to proceed, in the defendant's absence, with a trial or preliminary hearing that has commenced in the presence of the defendant, but from which the defendant is voluntarily absent or has been removed from the courtroom for disruptive behavior, as specified. This bill would specify that a trial or preliminary hearing shall be deemed to have "commenced in the presence" of a defendant who is in custody and refuses to appear in court, if the court makes certain specified findings on the record, by clear and convincing evidence. Existing law authorizes a court, in a misdemeanor case, to proceed in the defendant's absence, as specified, if a defendant has provided a waiver and is represented by counsel. This bill would allow the court to proceed, with or without a waiver, in any misdemeanor case in which the defendant is in custody and refuses to appear in court, if the court makes certain specified findings on the record, by clear and convincing evidence.
Who sponsors AB 700?
AB 700 is sponsored by Cunningham.
What is the current status of AB 700?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 16, 2021. Enacted.
Where can I track AB 700?
Track AB 700 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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