The first pleading on the part of the people in the superior court in a felony case is the indictment, information, or the complaint in any case certified to the superior court under Section 859a. The first pleading on the part of the people in a misdemeanor or infraction case is the complaint except as otherwise provided by law. The first pleading on the part of the people in a proceeding pursuant to Section 3060 of the Government Code is an accusation.
Cal. Penal Code § 949
Rules of Pleading
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case 22 Cal. 4th 750 - People v. Martinez (2000)
Most recently applied in Naidu v. Superior Court of Riverside Cnty. (February 2018)
Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 931, Sec. 373
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.