Denise Huskins, survivor of a 2015 kidnapping and sexual assault featured in Netflix's 'American Nightmare,' discovered that explicit evidence from her case remained with her attacker's ex-wife a decade later. This revelation highlights a loophole in California law, prompting support for Senate Bill 1056 to standardize protections for sexual assault victims' evidence. Huskins and her husband Aaron Quinn plan to testify before the state Senate on March 24.
In March 2015, Matthew Muller invaded the Vallejo home of Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn, blindfolded and drugged them, then kidnapped and raped Huskins, holding her for two days in South Lake Tahoe before releasing her for ransom. Police initially accused Huskins of faking the kidnapping, drawing comparisons to the film 'Gone Girl.' Muller later pleaded guilty after arrest in a separate case and was convicted of the crimes against Huskins, which he recorded on video during the assaults. The case inspired Netflix's popular true-crime series 'American Nightmare.' Ten years after Muller's conviction, Huskins and Quinn learned during reopened cold case investigations tied to Muller that he and his then-wife had received copies of the explicit videotaped evidence through the legal discovery process. Muller had represented himself at one point, with his wife acting as his legal assistant. A protective order, signed by the deputy district attorney and defense attorney Stephanie Grogan-Jones (now a Solano County judge), barred Muller from keeping copies and required return and destruction of materials within 30 days after the case ended. Investigators say this was not enforced, and Muller's ex-wife confirmed she still possessed the evidence. California law mandates sealing sexually explicit evidence for child victims but lacks uniform standards for adults, relying on varying county practices and protective orders without consistent enforcement tracking, according to Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney Sonja Satchell. Huskins described the discovery as re-victimization: 'Part of videoing it is his ability to continue to exploit and re-victimize me over and over again every time he viewed it.' She called the lack of guidelines 'unnecessary and, quite frankly, it feels cruel.' To address this, Huskins and Quinn back Senate Bill 1056 by Senator Tim Grayson. The bill would require courts to issue protective orders for explicit evidence involving victims of any age, prohibit direct copies to defendants without court approval, and impose uniform statewide standards. 'If survivors don't feel like they're going to be safe and protected, they are not going to come forward,' Huskins said. The couple will testify before the California State Senate Public Safety Committee on March 24.
