Title PEN, California Penal Code

(a) When a defendant who is charged in the accusatory pleading with having suffered a prior conviction pleads either guilty or not guilty of the offense charged against him or her, he or she shall be asked whether he or she has suffered the prior conviction. If the defendant ente…

(a) If a defendant pleads not guilty by reason of insanity, and also joins with it another plea or pleas, the defendant shall first be tried as if only the other plea or pleas had been entered, and in that trial the defendant shall be conclusively presumed to have been sane at th…

A person committed to a state hospital or other treatment facility under the provisions of Section 1026 shall be released from the state hospital or other treatment facility only under one or more of the following circumstances: (a) Pursuant to the provisions of Section 1026.2. (…

(a) An application for the release of a person who has been committed to a state hospital or other treatment facility, as provided in Section 1026, upon the ground that sanity has been restored, may be made to the superior court of the county from which the commitment was made, e…

A person committed to a state hospital or other treatment facility under Section 1026, and a person placed pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 1026.2 as amended by Section 3.5 of Chapter 1488 of the Statutes of 1984, may be placed on outpatient status from the commitment as pr…

(a) Every person committed to a state hospital or other public or private mental health facility pursuant to the provisions of Section 1026, who escapes from or who escapes while being conveyed to or from the state hospital or facility, is punishable by imprisonment in the county…

(a) (1) In the case of any person committed to a state hospital or other treatment facility pursuant to Section 1026 or placed on outpatient status pursuant to Section 1604, who committed a felony on or after July 1, 1977, the court shall state in the commitment order the maximum…

Whenever any person who has been committed to a state hospital pursuant to Section 1026 is released for any reason, including placement on outpatient status, the director of the hospital shall notify the community program director of the county, and the chief law enforcement offi…

(a) When a defendant pleads not guilty by reason of insanity the court shall select and appoint two, and may select and appoint three, psychiatrists, or licensed psychologists who have a doctoral degree in psychology and at least five years of postgraduate experience in the diagn…

(a) Any person who manufactures or sells any false government document with the intent to conceal the true citizenship or resident status for immigration purposes of another person is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for one year. Eve…

Any person who manufactures, distributes, or sells false documents to conceal the true citizenship or resident status for immigration purposes of another person is guilty of a felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for five years…

Any person who uses false documents to conceal their true citizenship or resident status for immigration purposes is guilty of a felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for five years or by a fine of twenty-five thousand dollars (…

When the jury have agreed upon their verdict, they must be conducted into court by the officer having them in charge. Their names must then be called, and if all do not appear, the rest must be discharged without giving a verdict. In that case the action may be again tried. (Amen…

If charged with a felony the defendant must, before the verdict is received, appear in person, unless, after the exercise of reasonable diligence to procure the presence of the defendant, the court shall find that it will be in the interest of justice that the verdict be received…

When the jury appear they must be asked by the Court, or Clerk, whether they have agreed upon their verdict, and if the foreman answers in the affirmative, they must, on being required, declare the same. (Enacted 1872.)

(a) Every person who knowingly procures or offers any false or forged instrument to be filed, registered, or recorded in any public office within this state, which instrument, if genuine, might be filed, registered, or recorded under any law of this state or of the United States,…

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that the voters of California are entitled to accurate representations in materials that are directed to them in efforts to influence how they vote. (b) No person shall publish or cause to be published, with intent to deceive, any campaign a…

(a) No person shall publish or cause to be published, with actual knowledge, and intent to deceive, any campaign advertisement containing false or fraudulent depictions, or false or fraudulent representations, of official public documents or purported official public documents. (…

(a) No person or entity shall authorize the production or distribution, or participate in the authorization of the production or distribution, of any document, including, but not limited to, any campaign advertisement, as defined in subdivision (d), that the person or entity know…

Any person who alters a certified copy of an official record, or knowingly furnishes an altered certified copy of an official record, of this state, including the executive, legislative, and judicial branches thereof, or of any city, county, city and county, district, or politica…

(a) Every person who files any false or forged document or instrument with the county recorder which affects title to, places an encumbrance on, or places an interest secured by a mortgage or deed of trust on, real property consisting of a single-family residence containing not m…

The jury must render a general verdict, except that in a felony case, when they are in doubt as to the legal effect of the facts proved, they may, except upon a trial for libel, find a special verdict. (Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 931, Sec. 390. Effective September 28, 1998.)

A general verdict upon a plea of not guilty is either “guilty” or “not guilty,” which imports a conviction or acquittal of the offense charged in the accusatory pleading. Upon a plea of a former conviction or acquittal of the offense charged, or upon a plea of once in jeopardy, t…

A special verdict is that by which the jury find the facts only, leaving the judgment to the Court. It must present the conclusions of fact as established by the evidence, and not the evidence to prove them, and these conclusions of fact must be so presented as that nothing remai…

The special verdict must be reduced to writing by the jury, or in their presence entered upon the minutes of the Court, read to the jury and agreed to by them, before they are discharged. (Enacted 1872.)

The special verdict need not be in any particular form, but is sufficient if it presents intelligibly the facts found by the jury. (Amended by Stats. 1987, Ch. 828, Sec. 65.)

The court must give judgment upon the special verdict as follows: 1. If the plea is not guilty, and the facts prove the defendant guilty of the offense charged in the indictment or information, or of any other offense of which he could be convicted under that indictment or inform…

If the jury do not, in a special verdict, pronounce affirmatively or negatively on the facts necessary to enable the court to give judgment, or if they find the evidence of facts merely, and not the conclusions of fact, from the evidence, as established to their satisfaction, the…

Whenever a defendant is convicted of a crime or attempt to commit a crime which is distinguished into degrees, the jury, or the court if a jury trial is waived, must find the degree of the crime or attempted crime of which he is guilty. Upon the failure of the jury or the court t…

Whenever the fact of a previous conviction of another offense is charged in an accusatory pleading, and the defendant is found guilty of the offense with which he is charged, the jury, or the judge if a jury trial is waived, must unless the answer of the defendant admits such pre…

(a) Whenever the fact that a defendant was armed with a weapon either at the time of his commission of the offense or at the time of his arrest, or both, is charged in accordance with section 969c of this code, in any count of the indictment or information to which the defendant …

The jury, or the judge if a jury trial is waived, may find the defendant guilty of any offense, the commission of which is necessarily included in that with which he is charged, or of an attempt to commit the offense. (Amended by Stats. 1951, Ch. 1674.)

Every person who adds any names to the list of persons selected to serve as jurors for the county, either by placing the names in the jury box or otherwise, or extracts any name therefrom, or destroys the jury box or any of the pieces of paper containing the names of jurors, or m…

(a) A person is guilty of tampering with a jury when, prior to, or within 90 days of, discharge of the jury in a criminal proceeding, he or she does any of the following: (1) Confers, or offers or agrees to confer, any payment or benefit upon a juror or upon a third person who is…

On a charge against two or more defendants jointly, if the jury cannot agree upon a verdict as to all, they may render a verdict as to the defendant or defendants in regard to whom they do agree, on which a judgment must be entered accordingly, and the case as to the other may be…

When there is a verdict of conviction, in which it appears to the Court that the jury have mistaken the law, the Court may explain the reason for that opinion and direct the jury to reconsider their verdict, and if, after the reconsideration, they return the same verdict, it must…

If the jury persist in finding an informal verdict, from which, however, it can be clearly understood that their intention is to find in favor of the defendant upon the issue, it must be entered in the terms in which it is found, and the Court must give judgment of acquittal. But…

When a verdict is rendered, and before it is recorded, the jury may be polled, at the request of either party, in which case they must be severally asked whether it is their verdict, and if any one answer in the negative, the jury must be sent out for further deliberation. (Enact…

(a) When the verdict given is receivable by the court, the clerk shall record it in full upon the minutes, and if requested by any party shall read it to the jury, and inquire of them whether it is their verdict. If any juror disagrees, the fact shall be entered upon the minutes …

Where a general verdict is rendered or a finding by the court is made in favor of the defendant, except on a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, a judgment of acquittal must be forthwith given. If such judgment is given, or a judgment imposing a fine only, without imprisonm…

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), if a general verdict is rendered against the defendant, or a special verdict is given, they shall be remanded, if in custody, or if on bail they shall be committed to the proper officer of the county to await the judgment of the court up…

When a jury trial is waived, the judge or justice before whom the trial is had shall, at the conclusion thereof, announce his findings upon the issues of fact, which shall be in substantially the form prescribed for the general verdict of a jury and shall be entered upon the minu…

(a) Every person who commits a public offense, for which any specification of three time periods of imprisonment in any state prison or imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 is now prescribed by law or for which only a single term of imprisonment in state priso…

Every officer or person required by law to certify to the list of persons selected as jurors who maliciously, corruptly, or willfully certifies to a false or incorrect list, or a list containing other names than those selected, or who, being required by law to write down the name…

After hearing the appeal, the Court must give judgment without regard to technical errors or defects, or to exceptions, which do not affect the substantial rights of the parties. (Enacted 1872.)

Upon an appeal taken by the defendant, the appellate court may, without exception having been taken in the trial court, review any question of law involved in any ruling, order, instruction, or thing whatsoever said or done at the trial or prior to or after judgment, which thing …