{"data":{"id":"us-ca/evid-701","jurisdiction":"us-ca","citation":"EVID § 701","heading":"","body":"(a) A person is disqualified to be a witness if he or she is:\n(1) Incapable of expressing himself or herself concerning the matter so as to be understood, either directly or through interpretation by one who can understand him; or\n(2) Incapable of understanding the duty of a witness to tell the truth.\n(b) In any proceeding held outside the presence of a jury, the court may reserve challenges to the competency of a witness until the conclusion of the direct examination of that witness.","path":["Evidence Code - EVID","DIVISION 6. WITNESSES [700. - 795.]","CHAPTER 1. Competency [700. - 704.]"],"source_url":"https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zip","current_through":"2026-09-13","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T05:56:33Z","sha256":"1f41ea9ef7f4ee614ad8eb26bb6a483239e8e0cbeafbb3ccff2f83f295b94f2c","source_id":"us-ca","stale":false,"prev":"us-ca/evid-700","next":"us-ca/evid-702"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}