§ 1992.Disobedience to subpoena; forfeiture; damages

Title 3. Of the Production of Evidence · Chapter 2. Means of Production · Last amended 2005 · Last verified July 29, 2026

In one sentenceSection 1992 penalizes a person who fails to appear under a subpoena or court order by making that person forfeit five hundred dollars to the aggrieved party, plus all resulting damages, both recoverable through a civil action.

Full Text of § 1992

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A person failing to appear pursuant to a subpoena or a court order also forfeits to the party aggrieved the sum of five hundred dollars ($500), and all damages that he or she may sustain by the failure of the person to appear pursuant to the subpoena or court order, which forfeiture and damages may be recovered in a civil action.

Plain-English Summary

A subpoena carries a price for ignoring it, and this section sets that price. Someone who fails to appear as a subpoena or court order requires forfeits $500 to the party the failure hurt, on top of whatever actual damages that failure caused.

Both the flat forfeiture and the damages are recoverable together, but not automatically: the aggrieved party has to bring a civil action to collect them. The provision gives a party burned by a no-show witness a direct financial remedy, separate from whatever contempt or arrest consequences the witness might also face under Sections 1991 and 1993.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a witness owe for failing to appear under a subpoena?

A flat $500 forfeiture to the aggrieved party, plus all damages that party sustained because of the failure to appear.

How does a party collect this forfeiture and damages?

By bringing a civil action. Section 1992 doesn't make the payment automatic.

Does this remedy replace contempt or arrest for the same failure to appear?

No. It's a separate financial remedy that can accompany the contempt exposure under Section 1991 or the arrest procedure under Section 1993.

Amendment History

(Enacted in 1872. Amended by Stats.1978, c. 479, p. 1606, § 1; Stats.2005, c. 474 (A.B.1150), § 1.)

Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from the West's Annotated California Codes / Thomson Reuters. Enacted by the California Legislature. Last verified July 29, 2026. · Official source

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