Stagg

On the night of January 2-3, 1968, R. E. Stagg piloted a jet aircraft which took off from Santa Monica Municipal Airport after 11 p.m. and before 7 a.m. the next morning. Santa Monica Municipal Code, section 10105(a) provides: “No pure jet aircraft shall take off from the airport between the hours of 11:00 o’clock p.m. of one day and 7:00 a.m. the next day. The Airport Director or in his absence the watch commander of the Santa Monica Police Department may approve a take off during said hours, provided it appears to his satisfaction that an emergency involving life or death exists and approval is obtained before take off.”

On January 3, at the request of the airport director, a complaint was filed against Stagg by the City of Santa Monica in the local municipal court, charging him with violation of ordinance 10105(a). Following the entry of a not guilty plea and the setting of the matter for trial, Stagg made a motion to dismiss which was denied. On May 10 Stagg filed a petition for a writ of prohibition in the superior court seeking to restrain the municipal court from proceeding with the trial. The ground urged (the same ground supporting the motion to dismiss) was…