This law section states that in criminal cases, the way legal documents are written and judged for their adequacy follows the rules set forth in this code.

In a felony case in California's superior court, the first official statement by the prosecution is either an indictment, information, or a complaint if referred under specific conditions. For misdemeanor or infraction cases, it starts with a complaint, unless a different law specifies something else. In cases following government procedures under Section 3060, the prosecution begins with an accusation.

This law section explains what an accusatory pleading must include. It requires the document to list the court's name and the parties involved. Additionally, it should clearly state the public offense or offenses being charged.

This section provides a template for how an indictment or information document should be structured in California. It outlines that these documents must state who is being accused, what crime they are charged with (like murder or burglary), specify whether it's a felony or misdemeanor, and include when and where the alleged crime took place. Additionally, it must detail the specific act or omission leading to the charge.

When charging someone with a crime, the accusation must clearly state what crime the person is alleged to have committed. It's adequate to use simple language that gets the point across without needing technical details. The description can follow the exact words of the law or use any other phrasing that's clear enough for the person charged to understand the accusation. For theft charges, it's enough to say that the person took someone else's property or labor illegally.

If someone is charged with a crime under a fake or incorrect name, and their real name is found out during the legal process, the correct name must be used in all future legal documents. The documents should also mention that the person was originally charged under a different name.

This law says that a legal document, known as an accusatory pleading, can list multiple crimes, as long as they are connected or belong to the same type of crime. The court can combine such documents if they are related. The prosecution doesn't have to choose which charges to pursue in the case, allowing the defendant to be found guilty of any of the listed crimes. Each guilty verdict must be detailed in the final decision. However, the court can decide to separate the charges into different groups for individual trials if it believes it will be more just. Being found not guilty on some charges doesn't mean being found not guilty on others.

This law allows multiple offenses that are of the same kind or class to be tried together in one court case. Even if evidence for one offense wouldn't normally be allowed for the other offenses, they can still be combined in a single trial.

This law says that, when charging someone with a crime, the exact time of the crime doesn't have to be included in the official documents, unless knowing the exact time is essential to the crime itself.

This law says that if a crime involves harming a person or their property, it's okay if there's a mistake in the details about who was hurt, where it happened, or which property was affected. As long as the crime is clearly described in other ways, these errors don't matter.

This law explains that when someone is accused of a crime, the words used in the formal charges should be understood as people usually understand them in everyday language. However, if any words are specifically defined by the law, they should be understood in that legal context.

This law states that when a public offense is defined in a statute, the exact wording doesn't have to be used in a formal legal accusation. Instead, different words that mean the same thing can be used.

This law explains what makes an accusatory pleading valid in a legal case. It must be filed in the right court, even if the court's name isn't stated. If it's an indictment, it must be from a grand jury of the relevant county. If it's information, the district attorney must present it. If it's a complaint, someone must swear to it before a qualified officer. The defendant should be named or described with an unknown name if necessary. The charged offense must be suitable for the court where it's filed, unless it's a preliminary examination. The crime must have occurred before the pleading was filed.

This law allows criminal prosecutions to start by filing documents electronically, such as complaints or indictments, with a court or magistrate. These documents must be issued by a prosecutor, law enforcement agency, or court clerk. The court must have the ability to store and reproduce these documents electronically.

Similarly, a "notice to appear," which tells someone they need to go to court, can also be filed electronically if issued by law enforcement. It must meet certain storage and reproduction conditions.

The electronic documents don't need to be physically signed; instead, they can have electronic or digitized signatures that meet specific requirements.

This law says that a legal accusation against someone isn’t invalid just because it has minor formal mistakes, as long as these errors don’t harm the defendant's basic rights or affect the fairness of the outcome.

This law states that when someone is accused of a crime in a legal document, the person writing the document doesn't need to include things that are generally accepted as facts or rules that judges automatically know.

When presenting a legal judgment or decision from a court with specialized authority, you don't need to explain the jurisdictional facts in the initial pleading. Just present the judgment or decision as it happened. However, during the trial, you will need to prove the facts that give the court jurisdiction.

This law says that when you are presenting a private statute or a local ordinance as part of a legal case, you don't have to explain the whole thing in detail. It's enough to mention its title and the date it was passed. After that, the court will automatically recognize and understand it, just like it does with facts it's required to recognize by law.

This law requires district attorneys, courts, and law enforcement agencies in each county to create a system to keep the personal information of victims and witnesses in police and court documents secret. This includes details like addresses, phone numbers, and social security numbers. The law makes clear that it doesn't interfere with existing laws about sharing information during criminal cases or affect how defense attorneys or civil complaints handle such reports.

Additionally, this law does not change rules related to informant confidentiality or sealed search warrants.

If someone is accused of forgery and the document involved has been destroyed or hidden by them, then it doesn't matter if the document is described incorrectly in legal proceedings, as long as the destruction or hiding is proven in court.

This law explains that when charging someone with perjury (lying under oath) or subornation of perjury (getting someone else to lie under oath), the official charge only needs to describe the basic details of what was lied about, where, and who administered the oath. It must also claim that the lie was false and that the authority had the power to administer the oath. However, it doesn't need to include all the detailed legal documents or proof of the authority's legal power.

This law says that when someone is accused of stealing money, stocks, or valuable securities, or conspiring to trick someone out of these, the details in the charge don’t need to specify exactly what type of money or securities are involved. They just need to state that the theft or conspiracy involved some type of money or valuable security.

This law says that when someone is charged with distributing or possessing lewd or obscene material, the legal document (accusatory pleading) doesn’t need to include exact words or images from the material. It only needs to generally state that the material is lewd or obscene.

When accusing someone of having a previous felony conviction, an attempted felony, or theft, it's enough to simply say that the defendant was convicted in a specific court before the current offense. You don't need a lot of details, just the basic information. If there are multiple past convictions, you can include the dates of those judgments, and you should list all known convictions, no matter where they happened.

This law states that if it's discovered that an indictment or formal charge does not include all of a defendant's past felony convictions, it can be quickly updated to include these. This update requires a court order but not the grand jury's approval. After the update, the defendant will be brought back to court to respond to the revised charges.

This law allows records from prisons, jails, or reformatories to be used as evidence in court to prove someone has been previously convicted and served time. These records must be certified by the person who takes care of them.

This is used to establish that a defendant has a criminal history that is relevant to their current trial.

This law explains how to properly charge someone with having a past conviction related to specific sections of various California codes. It says it's enough to simply state that the defendant was convicted of breaking a certain law before the current offense, without needing extra details. The law requires mentioning the court and the specific section of the law that was previously violated.

This law deals with how serious felonies are charged in California. When a person commits a serious felony, the specific details that make it a 'serious felony' can be included in the legal charges. However, the jury won't be told that the crime is classified as a serious felony. If the defendant pleads not guilty, the court or jury will decide if the felony is indeed serious based on the allegations. If the defendant pleads guilty, they must separately admit or deny whether the felony is serious. For serious felonies involving actions like inflicting great bodily harm or using a weapon, it's enough to include a specific allegation that these actions took place.

If a guilty plea has been made but the complaint didn't list all previous felonies of the defendant, it can be updated to include them. The defendant will then be asked if they have those prior convictions.

If they deny the convictions, a jury will typically decide unless both sides agree to let the judge do it. However, when determining the defendant's identity in relation to the prior convictions, the judge will make the decision without a jury.

This law means that if multiple people are charged together in a single legal document, each person can have a different outcome; some might be found guilty while others might be found not guilty.

This law states that the legal differences between those who help plan a crime (accessories before the fact) and those who actually commit it (principals) no longer exist. Everyone involved in a crime is treated the same way under the law, meaning they can be charged, tried, and punished as if they were the main participant. In legal documents accusing someone of a crime, there's no need to specify their exact role beyond what's necessary for charging a principal.

This law section states that if legal documents accusing someone of a crime are lost or destroyed, the court must allow a copy to be filed and used instead. This can be requested by either the prosecutor or the defendant. The copy will then be treated as if it were the original document.