Cal. Codes » Penal Code / PART 1. OF CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS / TITLE 1. OF PERSONS LIABLE TO PUNISHMENT FOR CRIME
California Codes

Cal. Penal Code § 26 (2026)

Of Persons Liable To Punishment For Crime

✓ leginfo export of Sept. 26, 2026 (applied Oct. 1, 2026)
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All persons are capable of committing crimes except those belonging to the following classes:

One—Children under the age of 14, in the absence of clear proof that at the time of committing the act charged against them, they knew its wrongfulness.

Two—Persons who are mentally incapacitated.

Three—Persons who committed the act or made the omission charged under an ignorance or mistake of fact, which disproves any criminal intent.

Four—Persons who committed the act charged without being conscious thereof.

Five—Persons who committed the act or made the omission charged through misfortune or by accident, when it appears that there was no evil design, intention, or culpable negligence.

Six—Persons (unless the crime be punishable with death) who committed the act or made the omission charged under threats or menaces sufficient to show that they had reasonable cause to and did believe their lives would be endangered if they refused.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 220 cases (21 in the last 5 years), 1942–2026 · leading case: Nino v. Gladys R., 464 P.2d 127 (Cal. 1970).
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Nino v. Gladys R., 464 P.2d 127 (Cal. 1970). · cites it 16× “( People v. Pallares (1952) 112 Cal. App.2d Supp.”
People v. Cottone, 303 P.3d 1163 (Cal. 2013). · cites it 5× “6 Penal Code section 26 provides in relevant part: “All persons are capable of committing crimes except those belonging to the following classes: [¶] One—Children under the age of 14, in the absence of clear proof that at the time of committing the act charged against them, they…”
People v. Manuel L., 865 P.2d 718 (Cal. 1994). · cites it 10× “Penal Code section 26 articulates a presumption that a minor under the age of 14 is incapable of committing a crime.”
People v. Vieira, 106 P.3d 990 (Cal. 2005). · cites it 2× “Duress and Malice Penal Code section 26 declares duress to be a perfect defense against criminal charges when the person charged "committed the act or made the omission charged under threats or menaces sufficient to show that they had reasonable cause to and did believe their…”
People v. Morales, 18 P.3d 11 (Cal. 2001). · cites it 2× “(Pen.Code, § 26, subd. 6; see People v. Bacigalupo (1991) 1 Cal.”
People v. Anderson, 252 P.3d 968 (Cal. 2011). · cites it 2× “(5) Penal Code section 26 states the statutory defense: "All persons are capable of committing crimes except those belonging to the following classes: [¶] .”
People v. Kelly, 516 P.2d 875 (Cal. 1973). · cites it 8× “2d 705 ], we said: "Unconsciousness is a complete, not a partial, defense to a criminal charge (Pen. Code, § 26, subd. 5), and, although voluntary intoxication may at times amount to unconsciousness, yet it can only have the effect of negating specific intent, the applicable…”
Fare v. Ramon M., 584 P.2d 524 (Cal. 1978). · cites it 6× “Penal Code section 26 codifies the rarely used defense of idiocy as well as the better known defense of insanity.”
Victor Eugene Rios v. Teresa Rocha, 299 F.3d 796 (9th Cir. 2002). · cites it 2× “Cal.Penal Code § 26(4). The level of unconsciousness “need not reach the physical dimensions commonly associated with the term (coma, inertia, incapability of locomotion or manual action, and so on); it can exist .”
Fare v. Tony C., 582 P.2d 957 (Cal. 1978). · cites it 2× “Penal Code section 26, subdivision One, declares that minors under the age of 14 are presumed incapable of committing a crime in the absence of "clear proof" that at the time of the act "they knew its wrongfulness.”
People v. Anderson, 50 P.3d 368 (Cal. 2002). · cites it 2× “Since its adoption in 1872, Penal Code section 26 [3] has provided: "All persons are *592 capable of committing crimes except those belonging to the following classes: [¶] .”
People v. Givan, 233 Cal. App. 4th 335 (Cal. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 3× “) Penal Code section 26 lists classes of persons deemed incapable of committing crimes, including “[p]ersons who committed the act or made the omission charged under an ignorance or mistake of fact, which disproves any criminal intent.”
Show all 220 citing cases →
Cal. Penal Code § 26(3): 1 case
Traylor v. State, 43 S.W.3d 725 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2001).
Cal. Penal Code § 26(4): 1 case
Victor Eugene Rios v. Teresa Rocha, 299 F.3d 796 (9th Cir. 2002). “Cal.Penal Code § 26(4). The level of unconsciousness “need not reach the physical dimensions commonly associated with the term (coma, inertia, incapability of locomotion or manual action, and so on); it can exist .”
Cal. Penal Code § 26(6): 2 cases
People v. Gorgol, 265 P.2d 69 (Cal. Ct. App. 1953).
In re Nourn, 145 Cal. App. 4th 820 (Cal. Ct. App. 2006).
Cal. Penal Code § 26(7): 2 cases
Tully v. State, 730 P.2d 1206 (Okla. Crim. App. 1986).
United States v. Pete Mitchell, 725 F.2d 832 (2d Cir. 1983).
Cal. Penal Code § 26(One): 3 cases
People v. Cottone, 303 P.3d 1163 (Cal. 2013). “6 Penal Code section 26 provides in relevant part: “All persons are capable of committing crimes except those belonging to the following classes: [¶] One—Children under the age of 14, in the absence of clear proof that at the time of committing the act charged against them, they…”
People v. Vang, No. F069322 (Cal. Ct. App. Oct. 29, 2015).
People v. Clark, No. C076864 (Cal. Ct. App. Apr. 26, 2016).
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