Ayala

The People appeal an order of the superior court which set aside an information charging David Ayala with sale of heroin.

On 30 May 1972 Ayala sold a powdery substance purporting to be heroin.to an undercover agent of the Pomona Police Department. A preliminary chemical analysis by a Pomona narcotics officer indicated the substance contained no opiates, and a felony complaint was filed against Ayala charging him with sale of a substance falsely represented to be a narcotic. Following a preliminary hearing the magistrate ordered Ayala to stand trial but reduced the charge to a misdemeanor. Subsequently, a sheriff’s laboratory criminalist analyzed the powdery substance and concluded that it did contain heroin. The municipal court granted the prose cution’s motion to dismiss the charge for lack of proof, and Ayala was released after spending 64 days in custody on the charge. The prosecution filed a new felony complaint charging Ayala with sale of heroin in the 30 May 1972 transaction with the informer, but the complaint was dismissed when the criminalist failed to appear at the preliminary hearing. The prosecution refiled the complaint charging sale of heroin, and after…