California · Penal Code

PEN §841.5: (a) Except as otherwise required by Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 1054) of Title 7, or by the United States Constitution or the California Constitution, no law enforcement officer or employee of

Civil

What this law says, in plain English

Law enforcement officers cannot disclose victim or witness addresses or phone numbers to arrested persons or criminal defendants, except as required by constitutional law, discovery rules, or attorney requests for defense preparation.

Read the full statutory text

(a) Except as otherwise required by Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 1054) of Title 7, or by the United States Constitution or the California Constitution, no law enforcement officer or employee of a law enforcement agency shall disclose to any arrested person, or to any person who may be a defendant in a criminal action, the address or telephone number of any person who is a victim or witness in the alleged offense. (b) Nothing in this section shall impair or interfere with the right of a defendant to obtain information necessary for the preparation of his or her defense through the discovery process. (c) Nothing in this section shall impair or interfere with the right of an attorney to obtain the address or telephone number of any person who is a victim of, or a witness to, an alleged offense where a client of that attorney has been arrested for, or may be a defendant in, a criminal action related to the alleged offense. (d) Nothing in this section shall preclude a law enforcement agency from releasing the entire contents of an accident report as required by Section 20012 of the Vehicle Code.

Verify at the official source: California legislative text

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