2023-IPG-57 (RECENT CSC OPINIONS: LEWIS AND PRUDHOLME)

2023-IPG-57 (RECENT CSC OPINIONS: LEWIS AND PRUDHOLME)

This edition of the Inquisitive Prosecutor’s Guide discusses two recent California Supreme Court decisions.  In the first case (People v. Lewis (2023) 14 Cal.5th 876), the court decided the issue of whether the element of “force or fear” is “relaxed” when the adult being kidnapped is too intoxicated to consent to the movement.  The trial prosecutor (Santa Clara County DDA Jonathan Beardsley) in that case joins the podcast as a guest.   In the second case (People v. Prudholme (2023) 14 Cal.5th 961, the court decided the question of whether the legislative reduction in probationary periods enacted by AB 1950 (that went into effect in 2021) applied retroactively to defendants whose cases were not final – even if the length of the probationary period had been negotiated as part of a plea bargain.  Santa Clara County DDA Pablo Wudka-Robles joins the podcast to discuss that case.