Pen. Code, § 1127g · Chapter 2. The Trial
Pen. Code, § 1127g
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
In any criminal trial or proceeding in which a person with a developmental disability, or cognitive, mental, or communication impairment testifies as a witness, upon the request of a party, the court shall instruct the jury, as follows:
In evaluating the testimony of a person with a developmental disability, or cognitive, mental, or communication impairment, you should consider all of the factors surrounding the person’s testimony, including their level of cognitive development. Although, because of his or her level of cognitive development, a person with a developmental disability, or cognitive, mental, or communication impairment may perform differently as a witness, that does not mean that a person with a developmental disability, or cognitive, mental, or communication impairment is any more or less credible a witness than another witness. You should not discount or distrust the testimony of a person with a developmental disability, or cognitive, mental, or communication impairment solely because he or she is a person with a developmental disability, or cognitive, mental, or communication impairment.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Stats. 2004, Ch. 823, Sec. 15. Effective January 1, 2005.
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=1127g.
- Text hash
- sha256 2a152f5d128f3eeb86d142c0dea63f28748869b0dac96cbb70f50463f2dcc876
- 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
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.