What is the test for establishing sufficient cause to convict a defendant at a preliminary hearing?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Batista, 195 Cal.App.3d 301, 240 Cal.Rptr. 546 (Cal. App. 1987):
"At a preliminary hearing, the magistrate must decide only whether there is 'sufficient cause' to believe the defendant guilty of a probable offense. That phrase is generally equivalent to 'reasonable and probable cause'[,] which has been defined as such a state of facts as would lead a [person] of ordinary caution and prudence to believe and conscientiously entertain a strong suspicion of the guilt of the accused." (People v. Orduno (1978) 80 Cal.
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