Skip to main content

Pen. Code, § 1487 · Chapter 1. Of the Writ of Habeas Corpus

Pen. Code, § 1487

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

If it appears on the return of the writ that the prisoner is in custody by virtue of process from any Court of this State, or Judge or officer thereof, such prisoner may be discharged in any of the following cases, subject to the restrictions of the last section:

1. When the jurisdiction of such Court or officer has been exceeded;

2. When the imprisonment was at first lawful, yet by some act, omission, or event which has taken place afterwards, the party has become entitled to a discharge;

3. When the process is defective in some matter of substance required by law, rendering such process void;

4. When the process, though proper in form, has been issued in a case not allowed by law;

5. When the person having the custody of the prisoner is not the person allowed by law to detain him;

6. Where the process is not authorized by any order, judgment, or decree of any Court, nor by any provision of law;

7. Where a party has been committed on a criminal charge without reasonable or probable cause.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Enacted 1872.

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&sectionNum=1487.
Text hash
sha256 400014f18cd4728767790422212b13d6be8069a5ca44446fbe3a95b9ffd4ba8d
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.