Criminal procedure: COVID-19 Alternative Adjudication Program.

Existing law authorizes a county to establish a pretrial diversion program for defendants who have been charged with a misdemeanor offense and authorizes other diversion programs. This bill would establish the COVID-19 Alternative Adjudication Program. The bill would require a court to dismiss an accusatory pleading under the program if the defendant meets specified conditions including, among others, that 6 months have passed since the person was released from custody on the charge and the defendant or minor has not been charged with a misdemeanor or felony occurring after the charge at issue was filed, with specified exceptions. The bill would require a court dismissing a pleading pursuant to the program to determine whether restitution is owed to a victim as a result of an offense dismissed pursuant to the program, and would deem the arrest upon which the charges were based to have never occurred.