California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Nicholson, C084980 (Cal. App. 2019):
In a section 995 motion, the magistrate is the finder of fact. The superior court, sitting as a reviewing court, must draw every legitimate inference in favor of the information, and cannot substitute its judgment as to the credibility or weight of the evidence for that of the magistrate. (People v. Laiwa (1983) 34 Cal.3d 711, 718.) On
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appeal, "the appellate court in effect disregards the ruling of the superior court and directly reviews the determination of the magistrate holding the defendant to answer." (Ibid.) We must draw, in favor of the information, every legitimate inference that may be drawn from the evidence. (Rideout v. Superior Court (1967) 67 Cal.2d 471, 474.)
"Evidence that will justify a prosecution need not be sufficient to support a conviction. . . . ' "Probable cause is shown if a [person] of ordinary caution or prudence would be led to believe and conscientiously entertain a strong suspicion of the guilt of the accused." ' . . . An information will not be set aside or a prosecution thereon prohibited if there is some rational ground for assuming the possibility that an offense has been committed and the accused is guilty of it. . . ." (Rideout v. Superior Court, supra, 67 Cal.2d at p. 474, citations omitted.)
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