Can a prosecutor amend a criminal complaint without leave of court before a defendant enters a plea?

First, there was no impropriety in the preparation or filing of the amended complaint. As a general rule, a prosecutor may amend a complaint without leave of court at any time before the defendant enters a plea, so long as the amendment does not change the offenses charged or alter an information to add charges not supported by the evidence at the preliminary hearing. ( 1009; see People v. Michaels (2002) 28 Cal.4th 486, 513.) The rule is not vitiated by the fact that the amendment coincides with a defendant's attempt to plead to the original charges. (Id. at pp. 514-515.) Here, defendant was aware the district attorney had already prepared an amended complaint prior to entry of his plea.