Amos v. Superior Court

Petition for prohibition brought under section 999a, Penal Code, after motion to set aside an information pursuant to section 995, Penal Code, had been denied. The charge was bookmaking (Pen. Code, § 337a, subds. 1 and 2) and the motion was based upon the ground that defendant had not been legally committed by a magistrate. The problem presented is whether an attorney may act as a committing magistrate conducting a preliminary hearing in a criminal case after he has qualified pursuant to stipulation that he act in the particular proceeding as a judge pro tempore of a municipal court.

Petitioner…