Article 1. Certificate Of Title As Evidence of California Vehicle Code >> Division 3. >> Chapter 2.5. >> Article 1.

In any criminal proceeding in which ownership, possession, or use of a motor vehicle is an issue, a copy certified by the department as its record of title on file, or with the official custodian of those documents of another state, shall be admissible as evidence of ownership of the motor vehicle. Upon the introduction of evidence that the legal owner of a motor vehicle is not named in the certificate of title or that use or possession was with the consent or authority of the owner, a reasonable continuance shall be granted any party to enable the owner of the vehicle to be brought into court to testify.

A party to a proceeding described in Section 6150 may provide notice to the opposing party that a showing of need will be made at the arraignment or at any other pretrial hearing, and upon the proof of that notice and the showing of need, the court shall take testimony from the owner or person in control of the motor vehicle which shall be admissible at trial.

At any hearing, including, but not limited to, a scheduled trial date, involving a proceeding described in Section 6150, upon a showing of need, the court shall order as a condition of granting a continuance that the testimony of a witness then present in court be taken and preserved for subsequent use at a trial or any other stage of the proceeding.

Where testimony is taken and preserved for use at trial or other stage of the proceeding pursuant to Sections 6151 and 6152, the witness shall be examined in open court by the party on whose behalf he or she is present, and the adverse party shall have the right of cross-examination.

If any provision of this act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are severable.