Governor signs bill giving AG authority to investigate and prosecute police shootings

Gov. Gavin Newsom gave advocates of an overhaul of the state's criminal justice system a big victory on Wednesday, signing measures that will impact how juries are selected and how officers involved in fatal shootings are investigated.

Newsom also signed a bill that would prohibit racial bias from being a factor in seeking or obtaining criminal sentences and convictions.

Prosecutors will now have to prove bias was not part of their reasoning when using a peremptory challenge to strike a potential juror of color with the signing of AB 3070. Rather than an objecting party having to prove a strike was based on implicit bias, trial court judges will now have to decide whether an objective observer could view that implicit bias played a factor.

In a win for those calling for more independent oversight of officers involved in fatal encounters with civilians, Newsom signed a law that will require California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to investigate and prosecute, if charges warrant, officers involved in deadly shootings with unarmed civilians.

AB 1506 barely passed the Assembly before the legislative deadline in August. Not only does the law relieve local prosecutors of their duty to weigh charges against officers involved in these cases, it also creates an independent division within the California Department of Justice to review a law enforcement agency's use of force policies more broadly.

Newsom also on Wednesday signed AB 2542, which will prohibit the use of race, ethnicity or national origin to seek or obtain criminal convictions or sentences. Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, described the bill as a counter measure to address a 1987 legal precedent established by the U.S. Supreme Court in McClesky v. Kemp, which held defendants must prove conscious and intentional discrimination when challenging racial bias in their legal process.

The law creates a pathway for defendants to petition for a writ of habeas corpus or file a motion in trial court alleging racial or ethnic bias in their case based on evidence such as discriminatory language during criminal proceedings and racial bias in jury selection.

-- Tyler Pialet