Every person who upon any trial, proceeding, inquiry, or investigation whatever, authorized or permitted by law, offers in evidence, as genuine or true, any book, paper, document, record, or other instrument in writing, knowing the same to have been forged or fraudulently altered or ante-dated, is guilty of felony.
Chapter 6 - Falsifying Evidence, and Bribing, Influencing, Intimidating or Threatening Witnesses
California Penal Code — §§ 132-141
Sections (17)
Every person who practices any fraud or deceit, or knowingly makes or exhibits any false statement, representation, token, or writing, to any witness or person about to be called as a witness upon any trial, proceeding, inquiry, or investigation whatever, authorized by law, with intent to affect the testimony of such witness, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Every person guilty of preparing any false or ante-dated book, paper, record, instrument in writing, or other matter or thing, with intent to produce it, or allow it to be produced for any fraudulent or deceitful purpose, as genuine or true, upon any trial, proceeding, or inquiry whatever, authorized by law, is guilty of felony.
Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 463, Sec. 1. (AB 256) Effective January 1, 2016.
A person who, knowing that any book, paper, record, instrument in writing, digital image, video recording owned by another, or other matter or thing, is about to be produced in evidence upon a trial, inquiry, or investigation, authorized by law, willfully destroys, erases, or conceals the same, with
the intent to prevent it or its content from being produced, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 759, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1999.
Any person who knowingly alters, tampers with, conceals, or destroys relevant evidence in any disciplinary proceeding against a public safety officer, for the purpose of harming that public safety officer, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Repealed and added by Stats. 1980, Ch. 686, Sec. 2.
As used in this chapter:
officer or judicial officer, or (iv) who has been served with a subpoena issued under the authority of any court in the state, or of any other state or of the United States, or (v) who would be believed by any reasonable person to be an individual described in subparagraphs (i) to (iv), inclusive.
Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 373, Sec. 1. (AB 535) Effective January 1, 2026.
a trial, proceeding, or inquiry authorized by law.
a peace
officer, a state or local law enforcement officer, a probation, parole, or correctional officer, a prosecuting agency, or a judge.
probation or parole violation to be sought and prosecuted, or assisting in the prosecution thereof.
maliciously under any one or more of the following circumstances, is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years under any of the following circumstances:
victim, witness, or any third person.
a person who has been convicted of a violation of this section, a predecessor law, a federal statute, or
a
statute of any other state that, if the act prosecuted was committed in this state, would be a violation of this section.
the
transaction are guilty of a felony.
subdivision (a), (b),
or (c) is guilty of the offense attempted without regard to success or failure of the attempt. The fact that no person was injured physically, or in fact intimidated, is not a defense against prosecution under this section.
does not preclude the imposition of an enhancement for great bodily injury if the injury inflicted is significant or substantial.
an offense described in subdivision (c) shall be considered a circumstance in aggravation of the crime in imposing a term of imprisonment under subdivision (b) of Section 1170.
Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 538, Sec. 1. (AB 2907) Effective January 1, 2025.
(A) An order issued pursuant to Section 6320 of the Family Code.
(B) An order that a defendant shall not violate any provision of Section 136.1.
(C) An order that a person before the court other than a defendant, including, but not limited to, a subpoenaed witness or other person
entering the courtroom of the court, shall not violate any provision of Section 136.1.
(D) An order that a person described in this section shall have no communication whatsoever with a specified witness or a victim except through an attorney under reasonable restrictions that the court may impose.
(E) An order calling for a hearing to determine if an order described in subparagraphs (A) to (D), inclusive, should be issued.
(F) (i) An order that a particular law enforcement agency within the jurisdiction of the court provide protection for a victim, witness, or both, or for immediate family members of a victim or a witness who reside in the same household as the victim or witness or within reasonable
proximity of the victim’s or witness’ household, as determined by the court. The order shall not be made without the consent of the law enforcement agency except for limited and specified periods of time and upon an express finding by the court of a clear and present danger of harm to the victim or witness or immediate family members of the victim or witness.
(ii) For purposes of this paragraph, “immediate family members” include the spouse, children, or parents of the victim or witness.
(G) (i) An order protecting a victim or witness of violent crime from all contact by the defendant or contact with the intent to annoy, harass, threaten, or commit acts of violence by the defendant. The court or its designee shall transmit orders made under this paragraph to law
enforcement personnel within one business day of the issuance, modification, extension, or termination of the order pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 6380 of the Family Code. It is the responsibility of the court to transmit the modification, extension, or termination orders made under this paragraph to the same agency that entered the original protective order into the California Restraining and Protective Order System.
(ii) (I) If a court does not issue an order pursuant to clause (i) when the defendant is charged with a crime involving domestic violence, as defined in Section 13700 of this code or in Section 6211 of the Family Code, the court, on its own motion, shall consider issuing a protective order upon a good cause belief that harm to, or intimidation or dissuasion of, a victim or witness has occurred
or is reasonably likely to occur, that provides as follows:
(ia) The defendant shall not own, possess, purchase, receive, or attempt to purchase or receive a firearm while the protective order is in effect.
(ib) The defendant shall relinquish ownership or possession of any firearms pursuant to Section 527.9 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(II) A person who owns, possesses, purchases, or receives, or attempts to purchase or receive a firearm while this protective order is in effect is punishable pursuant to Section 29825.
(iii) An order issued, modified, extended, or terminated by a court pursuant to this subparagraph shall be issued on forms adopted by the
Judicial Council that have been approved by the Department of Justice pursuant to subdivision (i) of Section 6380 of the Family Code. However, the fact that an order issued by a court pursuant to this section was not issued on forms adopted by the Judicial Council and approved by the Department of Justice shall not make the order unenforceable.
(iv) A protective order issued under this subparagraph may require the defendant to be placed on electronic monitoring if the local government, with the concurrence of the county sheriff or the chief probation officer with jurisdiction, adopts a policy to authorize electronic monitoring of defendants and specifies the agency with jurisdiction for this purpose. If the court determines that the defendant has the ability to pay for the monitoring program, the court shall order the defendant to pay for the
monitoring. If the court determines that the defendant does not have the ability to pay for the electronic monitoring, the court may order electronic monitoring to be paid for by the local government that adopted the policy to authorize electronic monitoring. The duration of electronic monitoring shall not exceed one year from the date the order is issued. The electronic monitoring shall not be in place if the protective order is not in place.
subdivision (a) may be punished for a substantive offense described in Section 136.1 or for a contempt of the court making the order. A finding of contempt shall not be a bar to prosecution for a violation of Section 136.1. However, a person held in contempt shall be entitled to credit for punishment imposed therein against a sentence imposed upon conviction of an offense described in Section 136.1. A conviction or acquittal for a substantive offense under Section 136.1 shall be a bar to a subsequent punishment for contempt arising out of the same act.
restraining or protective order, provided the emergency protective order meets all of the following requirements:
(ii) The emergency protective order restrains the individual who is the restrained person in the other restraining or protective order specified in clause (i).
(iii) The provisions of the emergency protective order are more restrictive in relation to the restrained person than are the provisions of the other restraining or protective order specified in clause (i).
(B) An emergency protective order
that meets the requirements of subparagraph (A) shall have precedence in enforcement over the provisions of any other restraining or protective order only with respect to those provisions of the emergency protective order that are more restrictive in relation to the restrained person.
order a person subject to a protective order issued under this section to relinquish ownership or possession of any firearms pursuant to Section 527.9 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
of Section 236.1, the court shall consider issuing the above-described orders on its own motion. All interested parties shall receive a copy of those orders. To facilitate this, the court’s records of all criminal cases involving domestic violence, a violation of Section 261, 261.5, or former Section 262, or a crime that requires the defendant to register pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 290, including, but not limited to, commercial sexual exploitation of a minor in violation of Section 236.1, shall be marked to clearly alert the court to this issue.
subdivision (c) or a no-contact order, as described in Section 6320 of the Family Code, acknowledge the precedence of enforcement of an appropriate criminal protective order. On or before July 1, 2014, the Judicial Council shall modify the criminal and civil court forms consistent with this subdivision.
juvenile court order to coexist with a criminal court protective order subject to the following conditions:
this section.
been filed, the court may consider, in determining whether good cause exists to issue an order under paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), the underlying nature of the offense charged, the defendant’s relationship to the victim, the likelihood of continuing harm to the victim, any current restraining order or protective order issued by a civil or criminal court involving the defendant, and the defendant’s criminal history, including, but not limited to, prior convictions for a violation of Section 261, 261.5, or former Section 262, a crime that requires the defendant to register pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 290, including, but not limited to, commercial sexual exploitation of a minor in violation of Section 236.1, any other forms of violence, or a weapons offense.
convicted of a crime involving domestic violence, as defined in Section 13700 or in Section 6211 of the Family Code, a violation of subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 236.1 prohibiting human trafficking, Section 261, 261.5, former Section 262, subdivision (a) of Section 266h, or subdivision (a) of Section 266i, a violation of Section 186.22, or a crime that requires the defendant to register pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 290, the court, at the time of sentencing, shall consider issuing an order restraining the defendant from any contact with a victim of the crime. The order may be valid for up to 10 years, as determined by the court. This protective order may be issued by the court regardless of whether the defendant is sentenced to the state prison or a county jail, whether the defendant is subject to mandatory supervision, or whether imposition of sentence is suspended and the defendant is
placed on probation. The order may be modified by the sentencing court in the county in which it was issued throughout the duration of the order. It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this subdivision that the duration of a restraining order issued by the court be based upon the seriousness of the facts before the court, the probability of future violations, the safety of a victim and the victim’s immediate family, and any information provided to the court pursuant to Section 273.75.
court, at the time of sentencing, shall consider issuing an order restraining the defendant from any contact with a percipient witness to the crime if it can be established by clear and convincing evidence that the witness has been harassed, as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 527.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure, by the defendant.
monitoring. If the court determines that the defendant does not have the ability to pay for the electronic monitoring, the court may order the electronic monitoring to be paid for by the local government that adopted the policy authorizing electronic monitoring. The duration of the electronic monitoring shall not exceed one year from the date the order is issued.
Added by Stats. 2005, Ch. 472, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 2006.
Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1101, Sec. 1.
Any person who has upon his person a deadly weapon with the intent to use such weapon to commit a violation of Section 136.1 is guilty of an offense punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or in the state prison.
Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 626, Sec. 15. (AB 1171) Effective January 1, 2022.
witnesses.
Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 251. (AB 109) Effective April 4, 2011. Operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68.
felony.
As used in this subdivision, “threat of force” means a credible threat of unlawful injury to any person or damage to the property of another which is communicated to a person for the purpose of inducing him to give false testimony or withhold true testimony or to give false material information pertaining to a crime to, or to withhold true material information pertaining to a crime from, a law enforcement official.
Part 2.
Amended by Stats. 1987, Ch. 828, Sec. 5.
be influenced thereby, or that he or she will absent himself or herself from the trial or proceeding upon which his or her testimony is required, is guilty of a felony.
Amended (as amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 178) by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 253. (AB 109) Effective April 4, 2011. Amending action operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68. Amended version operative January 1, 2012, pursuant to Stats. 2010, Ch. 178, Sec. 107.
that person’s immediate family, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for two, three, or four years.
Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 254. (AB 109) Effective April 4, 2011. Operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68.
enforcement officer, or to a public prosecutor in a criminal proceeding or juvenile court proceeding, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for two, three, or four years.
Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 879, Sec. 1. (AB 1909) Effective January 1, 2017.
alters, modifies, plants, places, manufactures, conceals, or moves any physical matter, digital image, or video recording, with specific intent that the action will result in a person being charged with a crime or with the specific intent that the physical matter, digital image, or video recording will be concealed or destroyed, or fraudulently represented as the original evidence upon a trial, proceeding, or inquiry, is guilty of a felony punishable by two, three, or five years in the state prison.
alters, modifies, or withholds any physical matter, digital image, video recording, or relevant exculpatory material or information, knowing that it is relevant and material to the outcome of the case, with the specific intent that the physical matter, digital image, video recording, or relevant exculpatory material or information will be concealed or destroyed, or fraudulently represented as the original evidence upon a trial, proceeding, or inquiry, is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for 16 months, or two or three years.
law.