Human trafficking: recall and resentencing: pardons and parole.

(1) Existing law authorizes every person who is unlawfully imprisoned or restrained of his or her liberty to prosecute a writ of habeas corpus to inquire into the cause of that imprisonment or restraint. Existing law provides that a writ of habeas corpus based on intimate partner battering may be prosecuted if competent and substantial expert testimony relating to intimate partner battering and its effects was not presented to the trier of fact at the trial court proceedings, and is of such substance that, had it been presented, there is a reasonable probability, sufficient to undermine confidence in the judgment of conviction or sentence, the result of the proceedings would have been different, and that the burden of proof in this regard is on the petitioner. This bill would make those provisions applicable to cases in which competent and substantial expert testimony relating to human trafficking, as defined, and its effects was not presented to the trier of fact at the trial court proceedings and is of such substance that, had the competent and substantial expert testimony been presented, there is a reasonable probability, sufficient to undermine confidence in the judgment of conviction or sentence, that the result of the proceedings would have been different. (2) Existing law authorizes the Board of Parole Hearings to report to the Governor, from time to time, the names of any and all persons imprisoned in any state prison who, in its judgment, ought to have a commutation of sentence or be pardoned and set at liberty on account of good conduct, or unusual term of sentence, or any other cause, including evidence of intimate partner battering and its effects. Existing law requires the Board of Parole Hearings, one year prior to an inmate's minimum eligible parole release date, to meet with the inmate to review his or her suitability for parole. As part of this review, existing law requires the board to give great weight to any information or evidence that, at the time of the crime, the person had experienced intimate partner battering, if that person was convicted of an offense that occurred prior to August 29, 1996. This bill would authorize the Board of Parole Hearings to report to the Governor, from time to time, the names of any and all persons imprisoned in any state prison who, in its judgment, ought to have a commutation of sentence or be pardoned and set at liberty on account of evidence that the prisoner was a victim of human trafficking at the time of the offense. The bill would also require, as part of the review to determine a person's suitability for parole, the board to give great weight to any information or evidence that the prisoner was a victim of human trafficking at the time of the offense.