Penal Code, 1872

A magistrate may delay a preliminary examination by one court day to meet the special needs of a young child witness or dependent person, and must warn the prosecution and defense not to coach the witness before the next appearance.

If a postponement occurs, the magistrate must either commit the defendant for examination, admit him to bail, or discharge him from custody if money is deposited as provided in the Code.

A magistrate signs an indorsement on the arrest warrant to commit the person for examination; if the sheriff is not present, the defendant may instead be placed in the custody of a peace officer.

At the examination, the magistrate must first read the witnesses’ depositions to the defendant.

Witnesses must be examined in the defendant’s presence, and they may be cross-examined on the defendant’s behalf.

Defense witnesses may be sworn and examined after the people close their witnesses, but the magistrate can require an offer of proof and may block the testimony unless it meets the stated standard.

The defendant may not be examined unless represented by counsel or unless he waives the right to counsel after being advised of that right at the examination.

When a witness is being examined, the magistrate must exclude unexamined witnesses on request, keep witnesses from talking, and hold a hearing if exclusion is challenged.

The examination is generally open to the public, but the magistrate must exclude the public in certain circumstances, and the court must allow some family members to attend and stop them from discussing testimony.

Certain child witnesses and qualifying victims may be allowed to testify with a therapy or facility dog, if requested, available, and approved by the court.

A prosecuting witness in certain listed criminal cases may have up to two chosen support persons present during testimony, subject to limits and court control.

Counties are encouraged to provide a courthouse room for minors under 16, and new or substantially remodeled/refurbished courthouses must include that room.

A magistrate may close a witness examination during testimony on the prosecutor’s motion if the witness meets specified risk or vulnerability conditions.

In certain criminal cases involving a person with a disability or a child under 11, the court must use special precautions to protect the witness and support their comfort.

This section requires witness testimony in homicide cases, and in other cases when requested, to be written up as a deposition, and sets rules for shorthand reporting, transcript filing, and copy delivery.

The magistrate or clerk must keep depositions, restrict access to listed people, and provide a transcript to the defendant or attorney on demand after commitment.

If, after hearing the evidence, the magistrate finds no public offense or no sufficient cause to believe the defendant is guilty, the magistrate must dismiss the complaint and discharge the defendant.

This section lets the prosecutor ask the superior court to reinstate a dismissed complaint, and sets related duties, deadlines, appeal rules, and transcript handling.

In certain felony cases, the people or the defendant may seek immediate appellate review by filing a writ petition in superior court, and the petition must take priority over other cases.

If the examination shows a public offense and enough cause to believe the defendant is guilty, the magistrate must order the defendant held to answer. The section also allows probable cause to rest on certain sworn hearsay testimony from qualifying law enforcement officers.

In a preliminary examination, the content of a writing may be proved by an admissible original or admissible secondary evidence, despite the cited Evidence Code provision.

If the offense is not bailable, specific words must be added to the indorsement.

If an offense is bailable and the defendant is admitted to bail, the order must include specified wording about the bail amount and commitment to the county sheriff until bail is given.

If a magistrate orders a defendant committed, the magistrate must prepare and sign a commitment and send it with the defendant; if the receiving officer is absent, a peace officer must deliver the defendant into proper custody with the commitment.

This section gives the required form of a commitment order, unless it is made under section 859a.

If a commitment is made under section 859a, it must follow the specified form directing the sheriff to take the defendant into custody and hold the defendant until lawfully discharged.

A magistrate may take a written undertaking from each material witness in these criminal procedure situations.

A magistrate or judge may require a witness to sign a written undertaking with sureties if the judge is satisfied on oath that the witness may not appear and testify without security.

Certain legislators and local legislative body members who are convicted of a crime defined in this title lose their office and are permanently barred from holding office in the state or its subdivisions.

Infants who are material witnesses against the defendant may be required to provide sureties for their appearance.

This section lets a court or magistrate hold a material witness in custody or require an undertaking to appear and testify, and it gives the prosecution and defendant certain timing rights.

A witness who cannot get sureties may be conditionally examined on behalf of the people.

If a magistrate discharges a defendant or holds the defendant to answer, the magistrate must promptly send the warrant (if any), depositions, and bail or witness-appearance undertakings to the Clerk of the Court.

Grand juries are sworn to inquire into public offenses in the county and to investigate county civil matters.

This section defines “required number” for a grand jury, with different numbers based on county population.

An indictment is a written accusation presented by the grand jury to a competent court charging a person with a public offense.

Grand jurors are paid $15 per day for each day they attend as a grand juror, unless a statute or local ordinance sets a higher fee or mileage rate.

County grand juror per diem and mileage must be paid by the county treasurer from the county general fund, based on warrants from the county auditor and the superior court judge’s written order.

It is a misdemeanor to willfully and knowingly record, or try to record, grand jury proceedings while the jury is deliberating or voting, and to listen to or observe those proceedings without the grand jury’s consent.

The grand jury may proceed against a corporation.

A person may serve as a grand juror only if they meet the listed qualifications, and several disqualifying conditions make them ineligible.

This section says other Code of Civil Procedure sections list exemptions and excuses that can relieve a person from serving as a grand juror.

Each county’s superior court must order an estimated number of grand jurors during the month before the county fiscal year begins.

After an order under Section 895, the court must interview and select qualified grand jurors, and selected persons must sign an availability statement before being listed.

In counties with more than four million people, the grand juror list must include the number of persons set by the court’s order.

People making the grand jury list must select names proportionally from the county’s wards, judicial districts, or supervisorial districts, using the best inhabitant estimate they can make.

The jury commissioner must file the selected-juror list, publish it once in a county newspaper, and then prepare the grand jury box using one of two listed methods.

This section defines key terms used in the chapter, including “Board,” “Sex Offender,” “Treatment,” “Management,” and “Supervision.”

This section creates the California Sex Offender Management Board, sets its membership, and assigns appointment, staffing, and vacancy-handling rules.

The board must address sex-offender community management issues, use safer communities as its guiding objective, and may hold public hearings when it thinks necessary.

The board must set certification standards for sex offender management professionals, programs, and polygraph examiners, publish the standards, and process related background checks and fees.

People whose names are returned become regular jurors and serve for one year, with a possible second year for up to 10 of them if the superior court agrees and they consent.

Grand juror names must be drawn from the grand jury box, using the paper pieces or markers placed there under Section 900. Unused names at the end of the county fiscal year may be carried over to the next fiscal year’s grand jury list.

The jury commissioner must give the judges an annual list of qualified grand jurors, and the judges may issue rules or instructions to guide the commissioner.

The jury commissioner must investigate the qualifications of county residents who may be called for grand jury duty, may question people under oath, and has power to administer oaths.

The jury commissioner must return a recommended grand-jury list to the judges, and the superior court judges must examine it before a majority may select grand jurors from that list.

Judges do not have to pick any name from the jury commissioner’s list, and may choose any or all suitable county residents to serve as grand jurors if they think justice requires it.

A superior court must file an order with the jury commissioner to draw a grand jury when the public interest requires it.

In certain counties, the presiding judge may order one additional grand jury if the district attorney applies, must examine selected jurors for competence, and the extra grand jury generally serves for one year.

A judge may order one additional grand jury in a county or city and county, and the judge must pick and examine jurors at random from the trial juror list.

In San Bernardino County, the presiding judge (or a judge designated by that judge) may impanel an additional civil grand jury, select and screen jurors at random, and set its term; the jury may investigate oversight matters but may not issue indictments.

In Los Angeles County, a specified judge may order up to two additional grand juries, selected at random from eligible jurors; the grand juries may serve for one year and have limited inquiry and indictment authority.

Each county must have at least one grand jury drawn and impaneled every year.

Grand juries generally serve during the county fiscal year, but the county board of supervisors may switch them to the calendar year and must arrange an appropriate transition.

The order must set the time for the grand jury drawing, and the jurors must be drawn, certified, and summoned in the same way as trial jurors.

A summoned grand juror who willfully and without reasonable excuse fails to attend may be compelled to appear, and the court may fine the juror up to $50.

This section says how a grand jury is formed when the required number of summoned and unexcused persons are present, too many are present, or too few are present.

If a grand jury loses members, the jury commissioner may fill the vacancies in court, and a newly selected grand juror may not vote on matters that already had evidence taken before selection.

This section sets how grand jurors are selected, how long they serve, and limits service to one year.

The court must make sure a person drawn as a grand juror is qualified before accepting them, and must accept a qualified person unless the court excuses them on the juror’s application before they are sworn.

Challenges to the grand jury panel or an individual grand juror are not allowed, except when the court makes the challenge for lack of qualification under Section 909.

Each grand juror must take an oath to support the U.S. and California Constitutions and laws, investigate and present public offenses, keep grand jury matters secret, and keep the court’s charge.

The court must appoint a foreman from the summoned grand jurors who appear, and must appoint a new foreman if the appointed one is excused or discharged before the grand jury is dismissed.

If no grand jury exists, the Attorney General may demand that one be impaneled, and the people responsible for impaneling it must do so.

The court must charge the grand jury when it is sworn, give it needed information, and ensure training for civil-matters work; related costs are covered from existing resources.

When a grand jury is impaneled, the superior court judge must direct it to review specified code provisions and report whether they were followed.

The grand jury may not spend more than its investigation budget or incur obligations above that amount unless the presiding judge approves the expenditure in advance after the board of supervisors has been advised.

The grand jury must retire to a private room and inquire into offenses and civil matters after being impaneled, sworn, and charged, unless it is operating under a finding under Section 939.1. The court must discharge the grand jury or affected jurors when the business is completed or a juror’s prescribed term ends.

Each grand jury must choose its officers (except the foreman), set its procedure rules, and use concurrence rules for public actions and final reports.

If the grand jury foreman is absent or disqualified, the grand jury may choose a member to act as foreman pro tempore.

Certain grand jurors must tell the foreperson and court about qualifying agency employment and recuse themselves from related civil investigations.

The grand jury may investigate public offenses in the county and present them to the court by indictment, but it must not investigate certain officer-shooting or excessive-force deaths except as Section 918 provides.

A grand jury member may tell fellow jurors about a public offense the member knows about or has reason to believe occurred in the county, and the jurors may then investigate it.

The grand jury may investigate unindicted people in the county jail and must investigate county prisons and willful or corrupt misconduct by county public officers.

A person must not give or offer a bribe to certain decision-makers, including judicial officers, jurors, referees, arbitrators, umpires, or other authorized persons.

The grand jury may investigate certain land sales, transfers, and ownership related to possible escheat to California, may summon and examine witnesses and records, and must direct proper escheat proceedings when the evidence justifies them.

The grand jury may enter public prisons at reasonable times and examine county public records without charge.

This section says the grand jury’s powers and duties for removal proceedings involving district, county, or city officers are set out in a separate Government Code article.

The Attorney General may direct or petition for certain grand jury proceedings and has related powers, but must give required notices about exculpatory evidence and grand jury duties.

A grand juror must not willfully disclose that an information or indictment for a felony has been made before the defendant is arrested.

Grand jurors and certain interpreters must not willfully disclose grand jury evidence, statements, or voting information unless required by a court.

Grand jurors must keep grand jury statements and votes secret. A court may order disclosure of grand jury testimony in limited circumstances.

A grand juror generally cannot be questioned about what he says or how he votes in the grand jury on a matter pending before it, except for possible perjury tied to accusations or testimony to fellow jurors.

A grand jury, or the presiding judge if there is no grand jury, may pass records, information, or evidence to the next grand jury, except material tied to a criminal investigation or to an indictment basis.

A court must order disclosure of certain grand jury testimony or transcripts when the statute’s conditions are met.

The grand jury must investigate and report on county operations, accounts, and records, may do so selectively each year, and may not duplicate financial-statement examinations already performed for the board of supervisors.

The grand jury may inspect city or joint powers agency books and records, investigate those agencies, make recommendations, and must send a copy of any report to the affected agency’s governing body.

The grand jury may hire experts, assistants, auditors, and appraisers for specified investigative purposes, but some hires and payments need court or board approval.

A grand jury may investigate county-elected officials’ salary needs, and must do so when requested by the board of supervisors. It must also send a copy of its report to the board.

A grand jury may investigate county officers’ needs and report on them, and it must send a copy of the report to each county board of supervisors member.

A grand jury may disclose some evidentiary material and findings to the public only with judicial approval, and it must not release a person’s name or identifying information. A judge may require redaction or masking before approval.

Judicial officers, jurors, referees, arbitrators, umpires, and other authorized decision-makers must not ask for, receive, or agree to receive a bribe tied to influencing their decision, and the court must consider ability to pay when setting a restitution fine.

If a grand jury’s report comments on a person or official who has not been indicted, those comments are not privileged.

County grand juror expenses must be paid by the county treasurer from the county general fund, but only on warrants drawn by the county auditor and under the superior court judge’s written order.

After examining county officials’ books and accounts, the grand jury may order the county district attorney to sue to recover money the grand jury believes is owed to the county.

Grand juries must file final reports with the presiding judge, and certain officials must comment on those reports within set deadlines.

This section requires responses to grand jury findings and recommendations, sets a six-month outer limit for certain analysis responses, requires some pre-release sharing of report material, and forbids early disclosure of report contents.

In counties of 20,000 or fewer people, a grand jury may adopt and submit a final report if the stated membership and vacancy conditions are met; responsible officers, agencies, and departments do not have to comment on that report.

A grand jury may examine the books and records of certain local agencies and may investigate and report on how those agencies perform their duties.