Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 861, the magistrate may postpone the preliminary examination for one court day in order to accommodate the special physical, mental, or emotional needs of a child witness who is 10 years of age or younger or a dependent person, as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (f) of Section 288.

The magistrate shall admonish both the prosecution and defense against coaching the witness prior to the witness’ next appearance in the preliminary examination.

Terms Used In California Penal Code 861.5

  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • magistrate: signifies any one of the officers mentioned in Section 808. See California Penal Code 7
  • person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See California Penal Code 7

(Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 279, Sec. 7. Effective January 1, 2006.)

  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 7 Contents