Witness unable to CHAP. CXC.-An Act to amend section eight hundred and eightytwo of the Penal Code, concerning the detention of witnesses. [Approved March 14, 1878.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. Section eight hundred and eighty-two of the 882. When, however, it satisfactorily appears by examigive security nation, on oath, of the witness, or any other person, that the may be con- witness is unable to procure sureties, he may be forthwith examined. conditionally examined on behalf of the people. ditionally Such examination must be by question and answer, in the presence of the defendant, or after notice to him, if on bail, and conducted in the same manner as the examination before a committing Magistrate is required by this Code to be conducted, and the witness thereupon be discharged; but this section does not apply to an accomplice in the commission of the offense charged. SEC. 2. This Act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. Who may admit to bail. CHAP. LXXXIX.-An Act to amend section twelve hundred and ninety-one of the Penal Code, in reference to what Magistrate may admit prisoners to bail. [Approved February 25, 1878.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. Section twelve hundred and ninety-one of the 1291. In the cases in which defendant may be admitted to bail upon an appeal, the order admitting him to bail may be made by any Magistrate having the power to issue a writ of habeas corpus, or by the Magistrate before whom the trial was had. SEC. 2. This Act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. CHAP. DLXXVII.—An Act to amend the Penal Code. [Approved April 1, 1878.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. The following is added as a new section to the Penal Code, and must be inserted in said Code after section thirteen hundred and thirty-two, and designated as section thirteen hundred and thirty-three: porary imprisoned 1333. When the testimony of a material witness for the who may people is required in a criminal action, before a Court of order temrecord of this State, and such witness is a prisoner in the removal of State Prison, or in a County Jail, an order for his temporary witnesses. removal from such prison or jail, and for his production before such Court, may be made by the Court in which the action is pending, or by the Judge thereof; but in case the prison or jail is out of the county in which the application is made, such order shall only be made upon the affidavit of the District Attorney, or other person, on behalf of the people, showing that the testimony is material and necessary; and even then the granting of the order shall be in the discretion of the Court or Judge. The order shall be executed by the By whom Sheriff of the county in which it shall be made, whose duty executed. it shall be to bring the prisoner before the proper Court, to safely keep him, and when he is no longer required as a witness, to return him to the prison or jail whence he was taken; the expense of executing such order shall be paid by the county in which the order shall be made. SEC. 2. The following is added as a new section of the Penal Code, and must be inserted in said Code after section thirteen hundred and forty-five, and designated as section thirteen hundred and forty-six : of witnesses imprisoned counties. 1346. When a material witness for a defendant, under Deposition indictment, is a prisoner in the State Prison, or in the County Jail of a county other than that in which the defendant is in other to be tried, his deposition may be taken, on behalf of the defendant, in the manner provided for in the case of a witness who is sick, and the provisions of the Penal Code, commencing with section thirteen hundred and thirty-five and ending with section thirteen hundred and forty-five, shall, so far as applicable, govern in the application for, and in the taking and use of, such deposition. Such deposition may be taken before any Magistrate or Notary Public of the county in which the jail or prison is situated; or in case the witness is confined in the State Prison, and the defendant is unable to pay for taking the deposition, before the Warden, Deputy Warden, or Clerk of the Board of Directors of the State Prison, whose duty it shall be to act without compensation. Every officer, before whom testimony shall be taken by virtue hereof, shall have authority to administer, and shall administer, an oath to the witness that his testimony shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. SEC. 3. This Act shall take effect immediately. 124 AMENDMENTS TO THE PENAL CODE, TWENTY-SECOND SESSION. Credits for good behavior; how and when allowed. CHAP. CCCCXXXVIII.-An Act to amend section one thou- The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. Section one thousand five hundred and ninety of the Penal Code is amended so as to read as follows: 1590. The Board of State Prison Directors of this State shall require of every able-bodied convict confined in said Prison as many hours of faithful labor, in each and every day during his term of imprisonment, as shall be prescribed by the rules and regulations of the Prison, and every convict faithfully performing such labor, and being in all respects obedient to the rules and regulations of the Prison, or if unable to work, yet faithful and obedient, shall be allowed from his term, instead and in lieu of the commutation heretofore allowed by law, a deduction of two months in each of the first two years, four months in each of the next two years, and five months in each of the remaining years of said term; provided, that any such convict who shall commit an assault upon his keeper, or any foreman, officer, or convict, or otherwise endanger life, or by any flagrant disregard of the rules of the Prison, or any misdemeanor whatever, shall forfeit all deductions of time earned by him for good conduct before the commission of such offense; such forfeiture, however, shall only be made by the Board of Directors, after due proof of the offense, and notice to the offender; nor shall such forfeiture be imposed when a party has violated any rule or rules without violence or evil intent, of which the Directors shall be the sole judges. The name of no convict who attempts to escape, after the passage of this Act, shall be sent by the State Prison officials to the Governor for the commutation herein provided; provided further, that of those prisoners entitled to their discharge at the date of the passage of this Act, by virtue of the provisions hereof, not more than one shall be discharged on any one day, and the discharges shall be made in the order in which they would have occurred if this Act had been passed April, eighteen hundred and sixty-four. SEC. 2. This Act shall be enforced from and after the fifteenth day of April, A. D. eighteen hundred and seventyeight. |