(Sacramento) – Assembly Bill 790 by Assemblywoman Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach) to prevent witness intimidation has been amended to beef up witness protection funding and was approved today by the Assembly Public Safety Committee on a unanimous vote.

“It is absolutely essential that witnesses who are threatened get adequate protection,” said Karnette.  “I mean, how do we expect people to testify if they and their families can’t get the protection they need? It may be an uphill battle to find extra money for witness protection, but the issue is starting to get a lot of traction in Sacramento.”

Karnette initially introduced AB 790 to expand penalties for witness intimidation.  She has since refocused the bill onto witness intimidation programs after learning that witness intimidation funds were woefully inadequate. 

Writing in support of AB 790, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office writes: “The California Witness Protection Program (CWPP)…is currently under funded…Because of a lack of increased funding, the CWPP cannot fund all of the requests for witness protection it receives.”

As amended, Assembly Bill 790 calls for the state to provide an additional $6 million in funding for witness protection programs, but the funding must still be approved each year as part of the annual budget process.  AB 790 is sponsored by the Long Beach Police Officers Association (LBPOA) and supporters include Crime Victims United, State Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr., and the City of Long Beach.

“The importance of protecting witnesses from threats or intimidation in criminal cases and investigations cannot be overstated,” states the LBPOA letter filed in support of AB 790.  “It is at the very core of the judicial system.”

For more information, please view the bill’s policy committee analysis at: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_0751-0800/ab_790_cfa_20070423_101219_asm_comm.html