CALIFORNIA STATUTES AND CODES
SECTIONS 777-795
PENAL CODE
SECTION 777-795
777. Every person is liable to punishment by the laws of this
State, for a public offense committed by him therein, except where it
is by law cognizable exclusively in the courts of the United States;
and except as otherwise provided by law the jurisdiction of every
public offense is in any competent court within the jurisdictional
territory of which it is committed.
777a. If a parent violates the provisions of Section 270 of this
code, the jurisdiction of such offense is in any competent court of
either the jurisdictional territory in which the minor child is cared
for or in which such parent is apprehended.
777b. Perjury, in violation of Section 118, committed outside of
the State of California is punishable in a competent court in the
jurisdictional territory in this state in which occurs the act,
transaction, matter, action, or proceeding, in relation to which the
testimony, declaration, deposition, or certification was given or
made.
778. When the commission of a public offense, commenced without the
State, is consummated within its boundaries by a defendant, himself
outside the State, through the intervention of an innocent or guilty
agent or any other means proceeding directly from said defendant, he
is liable to punishment therefor in this State in any competent court
within the jurisdictional territory of which the offense is
consummated.
778a. (a) Whenever a person, with intent to commit a crime, does
any act within this state in execution or part execution of that
intent, which culminates in the commission of a crime, either within
or without this state, the person is punishable for that crime in
this state in the same manner as if the crime had been committed
entirely within this state.
(b) Whenever a person who, within this state, kidnaps another
person within the meaning of Sections 207 and 209, and thereafter
carries the person into another state or country and commits any
crime of violence or theft against that person in the other state or
country, the person is punishable for that crime of violence or theft
in this state in the same manner as if the crime had been committed
within this state.
778b. Every person who, being out of this state, causes, aids,
advises, or encourages any person to commit a crime within this
state, and is afterwards found within this state, is punishable in
the same manner as if he had been within this state when he caused,
aided, advised, or encouraged the commission of such crime.
781. When a public offense is committed in part in one
jurisdictional territory and in part in another, or the acts or
effects thereof constituting or requisite to the consummation of the
offense occur in two or more jurisdictional territories, the
jurisdiction of such offense is in any competent court within either
jurisdictional territory.
782. When a public offense is committed on the boundary of two or
more jurisdictional territories, or within 500 yards thereof, the
jurisdiction of such offense is in any competent court within either
jurisdictional territory.
783. When a public offense is committed in this State, on board a
vessel navigating a river, bay, slough, lake, or canal, or lying
therein, in the prosecution of its voyage, or on a railroad train or
car, motor vehicle, common carrier transporting passengers or on an
aircraft prosecuting its trip, the jurisdiction is in any competent
court, through, on, or over the jurisdictional territory of which the
vessel, train, car, motor vehicle, common carrier or aircraft passes
in the course of its voyage or trip, or in the jurisdictional
territory of which the voyage or trip terminates.
783.5. When a public offense is committed in a park situated in
more than one county, the jurisdiction over such an offense is in any
competent court in any county in which any part of the park is
situated. "Park," as used in this section means any area of land, or
water, or both, which has been designated as a park or recreation
area by any public agency or political subdivision of this state.
784. The jurisdiction of a criminal action:
(a) For forcibly and without lawful authority seizing and
confining another, or inveigling or kidnapping another, with intent,
against his or her will, to cause him or her to be secretly confined
or imprisoned in this state, or to be sent out of the state, or from
one county to another, or to be sold as a slave, or in any way held
to service;
(b) For inveigling, enticing, or taking away any person for the
purpose of concubinage or prostitution, as defined in subdivision (b)
of Section 647;
Is in any competent court within the jurisdictional territory in
which the offense was committed, or in the jurisdictional territory
out of which the person upon whom the offense was committed was taken
or within the jurisdictional territory in which an act was done by
the defendant in instigating, procuring, promoting, or aiding in the
commission of the offense, or in abetting the parties concerned
therein.
784.5. The jurisdiction of a criminal action for a violation of
Section 277, 278, or 278.5 shall be in any one of the following
jurisdictional territories:
(a) Any jurisdictional territory in which the victimized person
resides, or where the agency deprived of custody is located, at the
time of the taking or deprivation.
(b) The jurisdictional territory in which the minor child was
taken, detained, or concealed.
(c) The jurisdictional territory in which the minor child is
found.
When the jurisdiction lies in more than one jurisdictional
territory, the district attorneys concerned may agree which of them
will prosecute the case.
784.7. (a) When more than one violation of Section 220, except
assault with intent to commit mayhem, 261, 262, 264.1, 269, 286, 288,
288a, 288.5, or 289 occurs in more than one jurisdictional
territory, the jurisdiction of any of those offenses, and for any
offenses properly joinable with that offense, is in any jurisdiction
where at least one of the offenses occurred, subject to a hearing,
pursuant to Section 954, within the jurisdiction of the proposed
trial. At the Section 954 hearing, the prosecution shall present
evidence in writing that all district attorneys in counties with
jurisdiction of the offenses agree to the venue. Charged offenses
from jurisdictions where there is no written agreement from the
district attorney shall be returned to that jurisdiction.
(b) When more than one violation of Section 273a, 273.5, or 646.9
occurs in more than one jurisdictional territory, and the defendant
and the victim are the same for all of the offenses, the jurisdiction
of any of those offenses and for any offenses properly joinable with
that offense, is in any jurisdiction where at least one of the
offenses occurred.
784.8. When charges alleging multiple violations of Section 236.1
that involve the same victim or victims in multiple territorial
jurisdictions are filed in one county pursuant to this section, the
court shall hold a hearing to consider whether the matter should
proceed in the county of filing, or whether one or more counts should
be severed. The district attorney filing the complaint shall present
evidence to the court that the district attorney in each county
where any of the charges could have been filed has agreed that the
matter should proceed in the county of filing. In determining whether
all counts in the complaint should be joined in one county for
prosecution, the court shall consider the location and complexity of
the likely evidence, where the majority of the offenses occurred, the
rights of the defendant and the people, and the convenience of, or
hardship to, the victim or victims and witnesses.
785. When the offense of incest is committed in the jurisdictional
territory of one competent court and the defendant is apprehended in
the jurisdictional territory of another competent court the
jurisdiction is in either court.
When the offense of bigamy is committed, the jurisdiction is in
any competent court within the jurisdictional territory of which the
marriage took place, or cohabitation occurred or the defendant was
apprehended.
786. (a) When property taken in one jurisdictional territory by
burglary, carjacking, robbery, theft, or embezzlement has been
brought into another, or when property is received in one
jurisdictional territory with the knowledge that it has been stolen
or embezzled and the property was stolen or embezzled in another
jurisdictional territory, the jurisdiction of the offense is in any
competent court within either jurisdictional territory, or any
contiguous jurisdictional territory if the arrest is made within the
contiguous territory, the prosecution secures on the record the
defendant's knowing, voluntary, and intelligent waiver of the right
of vicinage, and the defendant is charged with one or more property
crimes in the arresting territory.
(b) (1) The jurisdiction of a criminal action for unauthorized
use, retention, or transfer of personal identifying information, as
defined in subdivision (b) of Section 530.55, shall also include the
county where the theft of the personal identifying information
occurred, the county in which the victim resided at the time the
offense was committed, or the county where the information was used
for an illegal purpose. If multiple offenses of unauthorized use of
personal identifying information, either all involving the same
defendant or defendants and the same personal identifying information
belonging to the one person, or all involving the same defendant or
defendants and the same scheme or substantially similar activity,
occur in multiple jurisdictions, then any of those jurisdictions is a
proper jurisdiction for all of the offenses. Jurisdiction also
extends to all associated offenses connected together in their
commission to the underlying identity theft offense or identity theft
offenses.
(2) When charges alleging multiple offenses of unauthorized use of
personal identifying information occurring in multiple territorial
jurisdictions are filed in one county pursuant to this section, the
court shall hold a hearing to consider whether the matter should
proceed in the county of filing, or whether one or more counts should
be severed. The district attorney filing the complaint shall present
evidence to the court that the district attorney in each county
where any of the charges could have been filed has agreed that the
matter should proceed in the county of filing. In determining whether
all counts in the complaint should be joined in one county for
prosecution, the court shall consider the location and complexity of
the likely evidence, where the majority of the offenses occurred,
whether or not the offenses involved substantially similar activity
or the same scheme, the rights of the defendant and the people, and
the convenience of, or hardship to, the victim and witnesses.
(3) When an action for unauthorized use, retention, or transfer of
personal identifying information is filed in the county in which the
victim resided at the time the offense was committed, and no other
basis for the jurisdiction applies, the court, upon its own motion or
the motion of the defendant, shall hold a hearing to determine
whether the county of the victim's residence is the proper venue for
trial of the case. In ruling on the matter, the court shall consider
the rights of the parties, the access of the parties to evidence, the
convenience to witnesses, and the interests of justice.
(c) This section shall not be interpreted to alter victims' rights
under Section 530.6.
787. When multiple offenses punishable under one or more of
Sections 11418, 11418.5, and 11419 occur in more than one
jurisdictional territory, and the offenses are part of a single
scheme or terrorist attack, the jurisdiction of any of those offenses
is in any jurisdiction where at least one of those offenses
occurred.
788. The jurisdiction of a criminal action for treason, when the
overt act is committed out of the State, is in any county of the
State.
789. The jurisdiction of a criminal action for stealing or
embezzling, in any other state, the property of another, or receiving
it knowing it to have been stolen or embezzled, and bringing the
same into this State, is in any competent court into or through the
jurisdictional territory of which such stolen or embezzled property
has been brought.
790. (a) The jurisdiction of a criminal action for murder or
manslaughter is in the county where the fatal injury was inflicted or
in the county in which the injured party died or in the county in
which his or her body was found. However, if the defendant is
indicted in the county in which the fatal injury was inflicted, at
any time before his or her trial in another county, the sheriff of
the other county shall, if the defendant is in custody, deliver the
defendant upon demand to the sheriff of the county in which the fatal
injury was inflicted. When the fatal injury was inflicted and the
injured person died or his or her body was found within five hundred
yards of the boundary of two or more counties, jurisdiction is in
either county.
(b) If a defendant is charged with a special circumstance pursuant
to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 190.2, the
jurisdiction for any charged murder, and for any crimes properly
joinable with that murder, shall be in any county that has
jurisdiction pursuant to subdivision (a) for one or more of the
murders charged in a single complaint or indictment as long as the
charged murders are "connected together in their commission," as that
phrase is used in Section 954, and subject to a hearing in the
jurisdiction where the prosecution is attempting to consolidate the
charged murders. If the charged murders are not joined or
consolidated, the murder that was charged outside of the county that
has jurisdiction pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be returned to
that county.
791. In the case of an accessory, as defined in Section 32, in the
commission of a public offense, the jurisdiction is in any competent
court within the jurisdictional territory of which the offense of the
accessory was committed, notwithstanding the principal offense was
committed in another jurisdictional territory.
792. The jurisdiction of a criminal action against a principal in
the commission of a public offense, when such principal is not
present at the commission of the offense is in the same court it
would be under this code if he were so present and aiding and
abetting therein.
793. When an act charged as a public offense is within the
jurisdiction of the United States, or of another state or territory
of the United States, as well as of this state, a conviction or
acquittal thereof in that other jurisdiction is a bar to the
prosecution or indictment in this state.
793.5. Any person convicted of a crime based upon an act or
omission for which he or she has been acquitted or convicted in
another country shall be entitled to credit for any actual time
served in custody in a penal institution in that country for the
crime.
794. Where an offense is within the jurisdiction of two or more
courts, a conviction or acquittal thereof in one court is a bar to a
prosecution therefor in another.
795. The jurisdiction of a violation of Sections 412, 413, or 414,
or a conspiracy to violate any of said sections, is in any competent
court within the jurisdictional territory of which:
First. Any act is done towards the commission of the offense; or,
Second. The offender passed, whether into, out of, or through it,
to commit the offense; or,
Third. The offender is arrested.