Can a criminal charge be dismissed under section 1385, subdivision (a) of the California Penal Code?

The only action that may be dismissed under Penal Code section 1385, subdivision (a), is a criminal action or a part thereof. Such dismissal, by definition, runs only in the immediate favor of a defendant, i.e., by cutting off an action or a part of an action against the defendant. To be sure, as the People point out, dismissal under Penal Code section 1385, subdivision (a), need not always be ordered for the benefit of a defendant rather than the prosecution. Thus, a dismissal of criminal charges before trial may be "designed to enable the prosecution `to obtain further witnesses, to add additional defendants, to plead new facts, or to plead new offenses....'" (People v. Orin (1975) 13 Cal.3d 937, 946, 120 Cal.Rptr. 65, 533 P.2d 193.) It does not follow, however, as the People incorrectly assert, that a trial court is authorized to dismiss an insanity plea simply because it would benefit the prosecution to do so. Indeed, we have never allowed proceedings in an action to be dismissed on that basis.