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AB-535 • 2026

Threatening a witness: assisting a prosecution.

Threatening a witness: assisting a prosecution.

Crime
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Schiavo
Last action
Official status
Chaptered
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The effective date is listed as empty in the metadata; only the chaptering date (2025-10-06) is confirmed.

Threatening a Witness: Assisting a Prosecution

This law clarifies that it is a crime to stop or discourage witnesses and victims from helping with legal cases, including by assisting in the prosecution.

What This Bill Does

  • It clarifies that preventing or discouraging a witness or victim from causing a complaint, indictment, information, or probation or parole violation to be sought and prosecuted is a crime.
  • It states that stopping someone from assisting in the prosecution of these matters is also a violation.
  • It makes other technical changes that do not change the main meaning of the law.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People who try to stop or discourage witnesses and victims from helping with legal cases.
  • Local agencies, as this bill creates a state-mandated local program for enforcing these rules.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The law states that no reimbursement is required by the state to pay local agencies for costs related to this act.
  • The text mentions technical changes but does not list exactly what those edits are.

Bill History

  1. California Legislative Information

    Chaptered

Official Summary Text

Threatening a witness: assisting a prosecution.