Pen. Code, § 686 · . PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS
Pen. Code, § 686
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
In a criminal action the defendant is entitled:
1. To a speedy and public trial.
2. To be allowed counsel as in civil actions, or to appear and defend in person and with counsel, except that in a capital case he shall be represented in court by counsel at all stages of the preliminary and trial proceedings.
3. To produce witnesses on his behalf and to be confronted with the witnesses against him, in the presence of the court, except that:
(a) Hearsay evidence may be admitted to the extent that it is otherwise admissible in a criminal action under the law of this state.
(b) The deposition of a witness taken in the action may be read to the extent that it is otherwise admissible under the law of this state.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 1971, Ch. 1800.
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=686.
- Text hash
- sha256 6fc1f46509884f9ffa2bc124b5683a68071d2bd5ff33a40e48377fea8918ab83
- 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, § 686. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Penal Code
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.