Pen. Code, § 14021 · Title 7.5. THE HERTZBERG-LESLIE WITNESS PROTECTION ACT
Pen. Code, § 14021
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
As used in this title:
(a) “Witness” means any person who has been summoned, or is reasonably expected to be summoned, to testify in a criminal matter, including grand jury proceedings, for the people whether or not formal legal proceedings have been filed. Active or passive participation in the criminal matter does not disqualify an individual from being a witness. “Witness” may also apply to family, friends, or associates of the witness who are deemed by local or state prosecutors to be endangered.
(b) “Credible evidence” means evidence leading a reasonable person to believe that substantial reliability should be attached to the evidence.
(c) “Protection” means formal admission into a witness protection program established by this title memorialized by a written agreement between local or state prosecutors and the witness.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 210, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2003.
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=14021.
- Text hash
- sha256 5ada03381da8af4169327965620476ce5401d2137d2b782bc426981404f85502
- 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
Cited by 1 provision
Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 14021. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
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.