TITLE 5. THE PLEADINGS [940. - 973.]

Heading of Title 5 amended by Stats. 1951, Ch. 1674.

§§ 940–973 · 37 sections

1. CHAPTER 1. Finding and Presentment of the Indictment §§ 940–945 · 4 sections

   • § 940 An indictment cannot be found without concurrence of at least 14 grand jurors in a county in which the required number of members of the grand jury prescribed…
   • § 943 When an indictment is found, the names of the witnesses examined before the Grand Jury, or whose depositions may have been read before them, must be inserted…
   • § 944 An indictment, when found by the grand jury, must be presented by their foreman, in their presence, to the court, and must be filed with the clerk. No…
   • § 945 When an indictment is found against a defendant not in custody, the same proceedings must be had as are prescribed in Sections 979 to 984, inclusive, against a…
2. CHAPTER 2. Rules of Pleading §§ 948–973 · 33 sections

   • § 948 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.
   • § 949 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…
   • § 950 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…
   • § 951 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…
   • § 952 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…
   • § 953 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…
   • § 954 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…
   • § 954.1 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…
   • § 955 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…
   • § 956 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…
   • § 957 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…
   • § 958 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…
   • § 959 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…
   • § 959.1 (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…
   • § 960 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…
   • § 961 Neither presumptions of law, nor matters of which judicial notice is authorized or required to be taken, need be stated in an accusatory pleading.
   • § 962 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…
   • § 963 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…
   • § 964 (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…
   • § 965 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…
   • § 966 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…
   • § 967 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…
   • § 968 An accusatory pleading charging exhibiting, publishing, passing, selling, or offering to sell, or having in possession, with such intent, any lewd or obscene…
   • § 969 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…
   • § 969a 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…
   • § 969b 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…
   • § 969e 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…
   • § 969f (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…
   • § 969.5 (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…
   • § 970 When several defendants are named in one accusatory pleading, any one or more may be convicted or acquitted.
   • § 971 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…
   • § 972 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…
   • § 973 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…