Cal. Codes » Penal Code
California Codes

Cal. Penal Code § 1159 (2026)

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section CA-LEGleginfo.legislature.ca.gov JustiaCode on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

The jury, or the judge if a jury trial is waived, may find the defendant guilty of any offense, the commission of which is necessarily included in that with which he is charged, or of an attempt to commit the offense.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 50 cases (5 in the last 5 years), 1880–2025 · leading case: People v. Breverman, 960 P.2d 1094 (Cal. 1998).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
People v. Breverman, 960 P.2d 1094 (Cal. 1998). · cites it 2× “like kept going and I shot out and they kept going and I shot out again and they like started going then I ran out and I'm like just going like this and I'm yelling—I'm ... trying to get em to stop and I'm just shooting, shooting, shooting and that's it.”
People v. Fontenot, 447 P.3d 252 (Cal. 2019). · cites it 2× “Whether or not attempted kidnapping is considered a lesser included offense, as we have previously said it is, Penal Code section 1159 informed defendant that he could be convicted of attempt.”
People v. Statum, 50 P.3d 355 (Cal. 2002). · cites it 2× “(Pen.Code, § 1159.) But a defendant who has been timely charged with a felony offense may assert the statute of limitations as a defense to prevent conviction of a time-barred lesser included misdemeanor offense.”
People v. Ortega, 968 P.2d 48 (Cal. 1998). · cites it 2× “The determination that crime B is a lesser included offense of crime A has four major legal consequences: (1) A defendant charged with crime A may be convicted, if the evidence warrants it, of crime B; that is, the trial court does not err in giving instructions and verdict…”
People v. Williams, 981 P.2d 42 (Cal. 1999). · cites it 2× “(Pen.Code, § 1159; People v. Birks (1998) 19 Cal.”
People v. Poon, 125 Cal. App. 3d 55 (Cal. Ct. App. 1981). · cites it 3× “(Pen. Code, § 1159.) 19 As explained in People v.”
People v. Birks, 960 P.2d 1073 (Cal. 1998). “In the first place, Schmuck 's construction of the language and purpose of rule 31(c) is at odds with Geiger 's prior treatment of the highly similar California provision, Penal Code section 1159. Rule 31(c) and section 1159 both declare, in nearly identical terms, that the…”
In Re Hess, 288 P.2d 5 (Cal. 1955). · cites it 2× “Penal Code, section 1159, as amended in 1951 provides that "The jury, or the judge if a jury is waived, may find the defendant guilty of any offense, the commission of which is necessarily included in that with which he is charged.”
People v. Aranda, 437 P.3d 845 (Cal. 2019). “( Pen. Code, § 1159 ; see maj. opn., ante , 245 Cal.”
People v. Schueren, 516 P.2d 833 (Cal. 1973). · cites it 2× “) [3] Penal Code section 1159 provides: "The jury .”
Hagans v. State, 559 A.2d 792 (Md. 1989). “37, § 701-109(4) (1985); Idaho Code § 19-2312 (1987); Iowa Code Ann. § 813.2 Rule 21(3) (West 1979); Kan.”
People v. Burns, 200 P.2d 134 (Cal. Ct. App. 1948). · cites it 2× “Appellant argues that the crime of assault is necessarily included in the offense defined by Penal Code, section 273d, and that under the evidence the jury could have found the defendant guilty of "simple" assault. The attorney general concedes that the offense of "simple"…”
Show all 50 citing cases →
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.