A new trial may also be granted as provided in Section 914 of this code.
§ 657.1.Granted As Provided In Section 914
Title 8. Of the Trial and Judgment In Civil Actions · Chapter 7. Provisions Relating to Trials in General · Article 2. New Trials · Enacted 1968 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 657.1 confirms that a new trial can also be granted under § 914, which lets a trial or reviewing court vacate a judgment and order a new trial when a court reporter's death, disability, or lost notes make it impossible to produce a phonographic transcript of the trial.
Full Text of § 657.1
Plain-English Summary
Most new-trial motions run through § 657's seven grounds and the notice-and-hearing procedure that follows. Section 657.1 adds a narrow, separate track: § 914 lets a trial court, or the reviewing court on appeal, set aside a judgment and order a new trial when a reporter's transcript can't be produced — because the reporter who took down the trial died or became unable to work, or because that reporter's notes were lost or destroyed in substantial part.
That situation echoes what §§ 663.1 and 663.2 do for lost bill-of-exceptions records, but § 914's remedy runs specifically to the reporter's own transcript and is available even after an appeal has already been taken.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does § 657.1 add to the new-trial grounds in § 657?
A cross-reference to § 914's separate remedy for a trial transcript that can't be produced.
When does § 914 apply?
When the reporter who took down the trial died or became disabled, or that reporter's notes were lost or destroyed in substantial part, making a transcript impossible to produce.
Who can order a new trial under § 914?
The trial court, or the reviewing court on appeal.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1968, Ch. 387.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: new trial lost transcript californiasection 914 new trial