Lawmakers consider victim privacy bill inspired by ‘American Nightmare’ case

State Sen. Tim Grayson presented a victim privacy bill alongside Denise Huskins Quinn and her husband, Aaron Quinn, before the Assembly Public Safety Committee Tuesday morning.

The bill, SB 1056, would require judges to issue protective orders governing sexually explicit evidence involving adult victims. Defendants would still be able to review the evidence needed for their defense, but judges could restrict how copies are made, shared or distributed.

The legislation was inspired by what the couple described as a loophole they discovered during the criminal prosecution of Huskins Quinn’s 2015 kidnapping and rape. Her attacker had recorded the assault on video, and because he represented himself in court, he was able to make and retain copies of the recordings.

Years after the case ended, Huskins Quinn said she learned that her kidnapper’s wife still had copies of the recordings. Because those copies remained outside the court’s control, she said there was no way to know who had access to them or prevent them from being distributed in the future.

Huskins Quinn’s case gained national attention after Vallejo police wrongly accused her of faking her disappearance. She became known as the real-life “Gone Girl,” named after the film released the prior year.

Months later, her kidnapper was arrested in connection with another crime, linked to her case, and ultimately charged and convicted. The events were chronicled in the 2024 Netflix docuseries “American Nightmare.”

“When people hear about our story, they usually think about the kidnapping. What I think about is everything that happened afterward,” Aaron Quinn said. “I watched Denise survive an unimaginable crime, and I watched her have to keep reliving it, not because of anything the perpetrator was doing anymore, but because there were gaps in the system that no one had really stopped to think about.”

California has long recognized the importance of protecting child victims from the unnecessary disclosure of sexually explicit evidence, said Joyce Bilyeu, CEO of the Sacramento Regional Family Justice Center. Bilyeu said that SB 1056 extends that same privacy and respect to all survivors, regardless of their age.

“As survivors, we shouldn’t give up our dignity forever. That’s why this bill matters so much to me,” Huskins Quinn said. “It doesn’t change anyone’s right to a fair trial. It simply says that the justice system has a responsibility to protect survivors from unnecessary harm while that process unfolds.”

In the committee meeting, Ignacio Hernandez opposed the legislation on behalf of the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, a statewide association of criminal defense lawyers. He said amendments had addressed many of the organization’s concerns but argued the bill still lacks clear procedures for defense attorneys.

Earlier versions of the bill drew objections from defense attorneys, who argued restrictions on sexually explicit evidence could make it harder for defendants and their legal teams to review evidence needed to prepare their defense.

The bill, which passed the Senate unanimously, remains on call in the Assembly Public Safety Committee after an initial committee vote.