California Evidence Code

§ 1156.5

EVID § 1156.5 Effective Jan 1, 2024Div. 9 · Ch. 3

Statute text

(a)Evidence that a person suffered or experienced excited delirium shall not be admitted in any civil action.

(b)A party or witness may describe the factual circumstances surrounding the case, including a person’s demeanor, conduct, and physical and mental condition at issue, including, but not limited to, a person’s state of agitation, excitability, paranoia, extreme aggression, physical violence, and apparent immunity to pain, but shall not describe or diagnose such demeanor, conduct, or condition by use of the term excited delirium, or attribute such demeanor, conduct, or physical and mental condition to that term.

(c)For the purposes of this section, “excited delirium” means a term used to describe a person’s state of agitation, excitability, paranoia, extreme aggression, physical violence, and apparent immunity to pain that is not listed in the most current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or for which the court finds there is insufficient scientific evidence or diagnostic criteria to be recognized as a medical condition. Excited delirium also includes excited delirium syndrome, excited delirium, hyperactive delirium, agitated delirium, and exhaustive mania.

Legislative history

Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 431, Sec. 1. (AB 360) Effective January 1, 2024.