---
type: "Bill"
title: "Criminal procedure: postconviction relief."
description: "Under existing law, although persons not presently restrained of liberty may seek certain types of relief from the disabilities of a conviction, the writ of habeas corpus is generally not available to them. Existing law creates an explicit right for a person no longer unlawfully imprisoned or restrained to prosecute a motion to vacate a judgment based on newly obtained evidence of fraud or misconduct by a government official, as specified."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "AB 813"
citation: "California AB 813 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Criminal procedure: postconviction relief."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Gonzalez"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 32
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2015-02-26"
last_action: "2016-09-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6719c6ea-d704-43e6-8750-a1b0e0404162"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB813"
source_hash: "e1a3daefc36de9655243754699e7d7c3b7b8efb435e8bd22c70486e549691bb0"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 813 (20152016) — Criminal procedure: postconviction relief.

Under existing law, although persons not presently restrained of liberty may seek certain types of relief from the disabilities of a conviction, the writ of habeas corpus is generally not available to them. Existing law creates an explicit right for a person no longer unlawfully imprisoned or restrained to prosecute a motion to vacate a judgment based on newly obtained evidence of fraud or misconduct by a government official, as specified.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/26/15 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB813&version=20150AB81399INT)
2. **03/26/15 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB813&version=20150AB81398AMD)
3. **05/07/15 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB813&version=20150AB81397AMD)
4. **05/14/15 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB813&version=20150AB81396AMD)
5. **06/22/15 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB813&version=20150AB81395AMD)
6. **09/28/16 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB813&version=20150AB81393CHP)
7. **AB813** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB813)
8. **09/02/16 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB813&version=20150AB81394ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading AB813 Gonzalez By Leno — **26–11** (pass) · upper
- AB 813 GONZALEZ Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **59–14** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Rules] — **5–2** (pass) · upper
- Do pass — **5–2** (pass) · upper
- With recommendation: That Senate amendments be concurred in. — **5–1** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **5–2** (pass) · lower
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 813 GONZALEZ Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **61–15** (pass) · lower
- AB 813 GONZALEZ Assembly Third Reading — **65–11** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Gonzalez — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2015-02-26** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2015-02-27** From printer. May be heard in committee March 29.
- **2015-03-26** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2015-03-26** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. Read second time and amended. `reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-04-06** Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2015-04-22** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (April 21). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2015-04-23** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2015-05-07** Read third time and amended. Ordered to third reading. (Page 1331.) `reading-3, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-05-14** Read third time and amended. Ordered to third reading. (Page 1429.) `reading-3, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-05-18** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 65. Noes 11. Page 1476.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2015-05-18** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2015-05-28** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2015-06-10** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2015-06-22** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-06-23** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2015-07-07** In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
- **2016-05-10** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on RLS. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (May 10). Re-referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-05-19** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2016-06-20** In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2016-08-11** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 11). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-08-15** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-08-16** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 26. Noes 11. Page 5022.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-08-24** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 26 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2016-08-29** Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2. `referral-committee`
- **2016-08-29** Senate amendments concurred in. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2016-08-29** Action rescinded whereby the Assembly concurred in Senate amendments.
- **2016-08-30** Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Page 6469.)
- **2016-08-30** From committee: That the Senate amendments be concurred in. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (August 30). `committee-passage`
- **2016-08-31** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 61. Noes 15. Page 6527.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2016-09-09** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2:30 p.m.
- **2016-09-28** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2016-09-28** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 739, Statutes of 2016.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6719c6ea-d704-43e6-8750-a1b0e0404162`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).