Rule 501 Insofar as any statute, except Section 522, assigns the burden of proof in a criminal action, such statute is subject to Penal Code Section 1096.

In criminal cases, the standard rule is that the prosecution must prove the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This comes from Penal Code Section 1096, and it controls how the burden of proof works in criminal trials.

Some laws try to shift or change who has to prove what in a criminal case. This rule says that those laws are still controlled by the Penal Code 1096 standard, with one exception: Evidence Code Section 522, which deals with the defense of not guilty by reason of insanity.