Pen. Code, § 1004 · Chapter 3. Demurrer and Amendment
Pen. Code, § 1004
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
The defendant may demur to the accusatory pleading at any time prior to the entry of a plea, when it appears upon the face thereof either:
(a) If an indictment, that the grand jury by which it was found had no legal authority to inquire into the offense charged, or, if any information or complaint that the court has no jurisdiction of the offense charged therein.
(b) That it does not substantially conform to the provisions of Sections 950 and 952, and also Section 951 in case of an indictment or information.
(c) That more than one offense is charged, except as provided in Section 954.
(d) That the facts stated do not constitute a public offense.
(e) That it contains matter which, if true, would constitute a legal justification or excuse of the offense charged, or other legal bar to the prosecution.
(f) That the statutory provision alleged in the accusatory pleading is constitutionally invalid.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 311, Sec. 7. (SB 883) Effective January 1, 2024.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=1004.
- Text hash
- sha256 2e22ff713e143248146e82831b23083e6c2b673381de62a0c00152ac8402b4f4
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
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