Ortega

Petitioners, Ricky Ortega and Michael Angelo Morales, face trial on charges of robbery, rape, murder with special circumstances, and conspiracy to murder. Each contends he has been improperly held to answer these charges on the grounds the magistrate permitted unauthorized persons to attend the preliminary examination and that the evidence against them was the product of an unlawful arrest. Morales makes the additional contentions that insufficient evidence was adduced at the examination to support the charges of robbery and conspiracy to murder and the allegations of special circumstances of torture (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(18)), atrociousness (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(14)) and lying in wait (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(15)). We issued the alternative writ of prohibition to review these contentions. (See, e.g., People v. Pompa-Ortiz (1980) 27 Cal.3d 519, 529 [ 165 Cal.Rptr. 851 , 612 P.2d 941 ]; Bielicki v. Superior Court (1962) 57 Cal.2d 602 [ 21 Cal.Rptr. 552 , 371 P.2d 288 ]; Greenberg v. Superior Court (1942) 19 Cal.2d 319 [ 121 P.2d 713 ].)

Facts

On January 9, 1981, Sergeant Andrew Jackson of the Stockton Police Department was assigned to investigate…