Is a prosecutor required to notify defense counsel of the impending release from jail of a material alien witness?

It would not be imposing a significant burden upon the prosecution to require the prosecutor to give reasonable notice to defense counsel of the impending release from jail of a material alien witness in order that defense counsel could take such action as he may deem necessary to interview the witness and make him or his testimony available for trial. While we do not impose such a requirement in every case, such a notice would certainly satisfy the prosecutor's obligation to take whatever reasonable steps that may be required to assure that the defendant is not deprived of the opportunity to make the witness available for trial. (See People v. Mejia, supra, 57 Cal.App.3d 574, 582, 129 Cal.Rptr. 192.) Because the giving of such a notice would impose only a minor inconvenience upon the prosecutor and would eliminate controversy such as has arisen in this case, we commend such practice to prosecutors. By these guidelines we do not intend to entirely relieve a defendant of some duty of diligence to make a known alien witness available for trial. [148 Cal.App.3d 187] Under other facts, that duty may well serve to qualify the People's burden in this regard.