Title PEN, California Penal Code

Notwithstanding Section 801 or any other provision of law, prosecution for any offense described in subdivision (c) of Section 803 shall be commenced within four years after discovery of the commission of the offense, or within four years after the completion of the offense, whic…

Notwithstanding any other limitation of time described in this chapter, prosecution for any offense proscribed by Section 368, except for a violation of any provision of law proscribing theft or embezzlement, may be filed at any time within five years from the date of occurrence …

(a) Notwithstanding Section 801 or any other law, prosecution for a felony offense described in Section 502 shall be commenced within three years after discovery of the commission of the offense, or within three years after the offense could have reasonably been discovered, provi…

(a) Notwithstanding any other limitation of time described in this chapter, prosecution for the failure of a mandated reporter to report an incident under Section 11166 known or reasonably suspected by the mandated reporter to be sexual assault as defined in Section 11165.1, may …

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), (c), (d), or (e), prosecution for an offense not punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 shall be commenced within one year after commission of the offense. (b) Prosecution f…

Notwithstanding Section 802 or any other provision of law, prosecution for the offense described in Section 18897.93 of the Business and Professions Code shall be commenced within three years after discovery of the commission of the offense. (Added by Stats. 2011, Ch. 146, Sec. 2…

(a) Except as provided in this section, a limitation of time prescribed in this chapter is not tolled or extended for any reason. (b) The time during which prosecution of the same person for the same conduct is pending in a court of this state is not a part of a limitation of tim…

With respect to a violation of Section 115 or 530.5, a limitation of time prescribed in this chapter does not commence to run until the discovery of the offense. (Added by Stats. 2003, Ch. 468, Sec. 10.5. Effective January 1, 2004.)

(a) If more than one time period described in this chapter applies, the time for commencing an action shall be governed by that period that expires the latest in time. (b) Any change in the time period for the commencement of prosecution described in this chapter applies to any c…

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, prosecution for a violation of Section 273.5 may be commenced within seven years of the crime. (b) This section applies to crimes that are committed on or after January 1, 2025, and to crimes for which the statute of limitations that was in effe…

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, for the purpose of this chapter, prosecution for an offense is commenced when any of the following occurs: (a) An indictment or information is filed. (b) A complaint is filed charging a misdemeanor or infraction. (c) The defendant is …

For the purpose of determining the applicable limitation of time pursuant to this chapter: (a) An offense is deemed punishable by the maximum punishment prescribed by statute for the offense, regardless of the punishment actually sought or imposed. Any enhancement of punishment p…

All the forms of pleading in criminal actions, and the rules by which the sufficiency of pleadings is to be determined, are those prescribed by this Code. (Enacted 1872.)

The first pleading on the part of the people in the superior court in a felony case is the indictment, information, or the complaint in any case certified to the superior court under Section 859a. The first pleading on the part of the people in a misdemeanor or infraction case is…

The accusatory pleading must contain: 1. The title of the action, specifying the name of the court to which the same is presented, and the names of the parties; 2. A statement of the public offense or offenses charged therein. (Amended by Stats. 1951, Ch. 1674.)

An indictment or information may be in substantially the following form: The people of the State of California against A. B. In the superior court of the State of California, in and for the county of ____. The grand jury (or the district attorney) of the county of ____ hereby acc…

In charging an offense, each count shall contain, and shall be sufficient if it contains in substance, a statement that the accused has committed some public offense therein specified. Such statement may be made in ordinary and concise language without any technical averments or …

When a defendant is charged by a fictitious or erroneous name, and in any stage of the proceedings his true name is discovered, it must be inserted in the subsequent proceedings, referring to the fact of his being charged by the name mentioned in the accusatory pleading. (Amended…

An accusatory pleading may charge two or more different offenses connected together in their commission, or different statements of the same offense or two or more different offenses of the same class of crimes or offenses, under separate counts, and if two or more accusatory ple…

In cases in which two or more different offenses of the same class of crimes or offenses have been charged together in the same accusatory pleading, or where two or more accusatory pleadings charging offenses of the same class of crimes or offenses have been consolidated, evidenc…

The precise time at which the offense was committed need not be stated in the accusatory pleading, but it may be alleged to have been committed at any time before the finding or filing thereof, except where the time is a material ingredient in the offense. (Amended by Stats. 1951…

When an offense involves the commission of, or an attempt to commit a private injury, and is described with sufficient certainty in other respects to identify the act, an erroneous allegation as to the person injured, or intended to be injured, or of the place where the offense w…

The words used in an accusatory pleading are construed in their usual acceptance in common language, except such words and phrases as are defined by law, which are construed according to their legal meaning. (Amended by Stats. 1951, Ch. 1674.)

Words used in a statute to define a public offense need not be strictly pursued in the accusatory pleading, but other words conveying the same meaning may be used. (Amended by Stats. 1951, Ch. 1674.)

The accusatory pleading is sufficient if it can be understood therefrom: 1. That it is filed in a court having authority to receive it, though the name of the court be not stated. 2. If an indictment, that it was found by a grand jury of the county in which the court was held, or…

(a) Notwithstanding Sections 740, 806, 949, and 959 or any other law to the contrary, a criminal prosecution may be commenced by filing an accusatory pleading in electronic form with the magistrate or in a court having authority to receive it. (b) As used in this section, accusat…

No accusatory pleading is insufficient, nor can the trial, judgment, or other proceeding thereon be affected by reason of any defect or imperfection in matter of form which does not prejudice a substantial right of the defendant upon the merits. (Amended by Stats. 1951, Ch. 1674.…

Neither presumptions of law, nor matters of which judicial notice is authorized or required to be taken, need be stated in an accusatory pleading. (Amended by Stats. 1965, Ch. 299.)

In pleading a judgment or other determination of, or proceeding before, a Court or officer of special jurisdiction, it is not necessary to state the facts constituting jurisdiction; but the judgment or determination may be stated as given or made, or the proceedings had. The fact…

In pleading a private statute, or an ordinance of a county or a municipal corporation, or a right derived therefrom, it is sufficient to refer to the statute or ordinance by its title and the day of its passage, and the court must thereupon take judicial notice thereof in the sam…

(a) In each county, the district attorney and the courts, in consultation with any local law enforcement agencies that may desire to provide information or other assistance, shall establish a mutually agreeable procedure to protect confidential personal information regarding any …

When an instrument which is the subject of an indictment or information for forgery has been destroyed or withheld by the act or the procurement of the defendant, and the fact of such destruction or withholding is alleged in the indictment, or information, and established on the …

In an accusatory pleading for perjury, or subornation of perjury, it is sufficient to set forth the substance of the controversy or matter in respect to which the offense was committed, and in what court and before whom the oath alleged to be false was taken, and that the court, …

In an accusatory pleading charging the theft of money, bank notes, certificates of stock or valuable securities, or a conspiracy to cheat or defraud a person of any such property, it is sufficient to allege the theft, or the conspiracy to cheat or defraud, to be of money, bank no…

An accusatory pleading charging exhibiting, publishing, passing, selling, or offering to sell, or having in possession, with such intent, any lewd or obscene book, pamphlet, picture, print, card, paper, or writing, need not set forth any portion of the language used or figures sh…

In charging the fact of a previous conviction of felony, or of an attempt to commit an offense which, if perpetrated, would have been a felony, or of theft, it is sufficient to state, “That the defendant, before the commission of the offense charged herein, was in (giving the tit…

(a) Whenever it shall be discovered that a pending complaint to which a plea of guilty has been made under Section 859a does not charge all prior felonies of which the defendant has been convicted either in this state or elsewhere, the complaint may be forthwith amended to charge…

Whenever it shall be discovered that a pending indictment or information does not charge all prior felonies of which the defendant has been convicted either in this State or elsewhere, said indictment or information may be forthwith amended to charge such prior conviction or conv…

For the purpose of establishing prima facie evidence of the fact that a person being tried for a crime or public offense under the laws of this State has been convicted of an act punishable by imprisonment in a state prison, county jail or city jail of this State, and has served …

In charging the fact of a previous conviction for a violation of Section 5652 of the Fish and Game Code, or of Section 13001 or 13002 of the Health and Safety Code or of Section 374b or 374d of the Penal Code or of Section 23111, 23112, or 23113 of the Vehicle Code, it is suffici…

(a) Whenever a defendant has committed a serious felony as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 1192.7, the facts that make the crime constitute a serious felony may be charged in the accusatory pleading. However, the crime shall not be referred to as a serious felony nor shall …

When several defendants are named in one accusatory pleading, any one or more may be convicted or acquitted. (Amended by Stats. 1951, Ch. 1674.)

The distinction between an accessory before the fact and a principal, and between principals in the first and second degree is abrogated; and all persons concerned in the commission of a crime, who by the operation of other provisions of this code are principals therein, shall he…

An accessory to the commission of a felony may be prosecuted, tried, and punished, though the principal may be neither prosecuted nor tried, and though the principal may have been acquitted. (Amended by Code Amendments 1880, Ch. 47.)

If the accusatory pleading in any criminal action has heretofore been lost or destroyed or shall hereafter be lost or destroyed, the court must, upon the application of the prosecuting attorney or of the defendant, order a copy of such pleading to be filed and substituted for the…

(a) Subject to subdivision (b) of Section 995a, the indictment or information shall be set aside by the court in which the defendant is arraigned, upon his or her motion, in either of the following cases: (1) If it is an indictment: (A) Where it is not found, endorsed, and presen…