Pen. Code, § 866 · Chapter 7. Examination of the Case, and Discharge of the Defendant, or Holding Him to Answer
Pen. Code, § 866
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) When the examination of witnesses on the part of the people is closed, any witness the defendant may produce shall be sworn and examined.
Upon the request of the prosecuting attorney, the magistrate shall require an offer of proof from the defense as to the testimony expected from the witness. The magistrate shall not permit the testimony of any defense witness unless the offer of proof discloses to the satisfaction of the magistrate, in his or her sound discretion, that the testimony of that witness, if believed, would be reasonably likely to establish an affirmative defense, negate an element of a crime charged, or impeach the testimony of a prosecution witness or the statement of a declarant testified to by a prosecution witness.
(b) It is the purpose of a preliminary examination to establish whether there exists probable cause to believe that the defendant has committed a felony. The examination shall not be used for purposes of discovery.
(c) This section shall not be construed to compel or authorize the taking of depositions of witnesses.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended June 5, 1990, by initiative Proposition 115, Sec. 16.
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=866.
- Text hash
- sha256 1da145aab04feef082c675cad509c69a34b3906059bc6d19d0794d5057c0a5ee
- 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.