Neither a departure from the form or mode prescribed by this Code in respect to any pleading or proceeding, nor an error or mistake therein, renders it invalid, unless it has actually prejudiced the defendant, or tended to his prejudice, in respect to a substantial right.
Cal. Penal Code § 1404
Errors and Mistakes in Pleadings and Other Proceedings
Applied in 36 court decisions — leading case 5 Cal. 4th 478 - People v. Cahill (1993)
Most recently applied in State v. Medina-Liborio (April 2013)
Enacted 1872.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.