For the purposes of this chapter, “excited delirium” means a term used to describe a person’s state of agitation, excitability, paranoia, extreme aggression, physical violence, and apparent immunity to pain that is not listed in the most current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or for which the court finds there is insufficient scientific evidence or diagnostic criteria to be recognized as a medical condition. Excited delirium
also includes excited delirium syndrome, excited delirium, hyperactive delirium, agitated delirium, and exhaustive mania.
Chapter 3.5Excited Delirium
Section § 24400
Excited delirium is described as a state where a person shows extreme agitation, aggression, paranoia, and does not seem to feel pain. This condition is not officially recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or lacks sufficient scientific evidence to be considered a medical condition. Terms like excited delirium syndrome, hyperactive delirium, and exhaustive mania fall under this category.
excited delirium agitation extreme aggression paranoia immunity to pain Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders scientific evidence medical condition excited delirium syndrome hyperactive delirium agitated delirium exhaustive mania diagnostic criteria recognition court findings
Section § 24401
This law states that 'excited delirium' is not accepted as a valid medical diagnosis or cause of death in California. It prohibits state and local officials, including doctors and coroners, from using or mentioning 'excited delirium' on death certificates or any official documents or testimony.
(a)CA Health and Safety Code § 24401(a) Excited delirium shall not be recognized as a valid medical diagnosis or cause of death in this state.
(b)CA Health and Safety Code § 24401(b) A state or local government entity, or employee or contractor of a state or local government entity, shall not document, testify to, or otherwise use in any official capacity or communication excited delirium as a recognized medical diagnosis or cause of death.
(c)CA Health and Safety Code § 24401(c) A
coroner, medical examiner, physician, or physician assistant shall not state on the certificate of death, or in any report, that the cause of death was excited delirium. The term excited delirium and terms inclusive of excited delirium defined in Section 24400 shall not be listed anywhere on the death certificate.
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Section § 24402
This law states that peace officers in California cannot use the term 'excited delirium' in their incident reports when describing an individual's behavior. Instead, officers must describe specific characteristics of the person's conduct without labeling their overall demeanor or mental condition as excited delirium.
A peace officer shall not use the term excited delirium to describe an individual in an incident report completed by a peace officer. A peace officer may describe the characteristics of an individual’s conduct, but shall not generally describe the individual’s demeanor, conduct, or physical and mental condition at issue as excited delirium.
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Section § 24403
In California, you can't use 'excited delirium' as evidence in civil cases. You can still talk about someone's behavior and physical or mental state, like agitation or extreme aggression, but you can't label or diagnose it as 'excited delirium.'
Pursuant to Section 1156.5 of the Evidence Code, evidence that a person suffered or experienced excited delirium is inadmissible in any civil action. A party or witness may describe the factual circumstances surrounding the case, including a person’s demeanor, conduct, and physical and mental condition at issue, including, but not limited to, a person’s state of agitation, excitability, paranoia, extreme aggression, physical violence, and apparent immunity to pain, but shall not describe or diagnose such demeanor, conduct, or condition
by use of the term excited delirium, or attribute such demeanor, conduct, or physical and mental condition to that term.
excited delirium civil cases inadmissible evidence mental condition description behavior in court agitation extreme aggression paranoia physical violence evidence restrictions witness testimony restrictions legal description limitations diagnosis prohibition factual circumstances in court
