Garcia

Petitioner Ernestine Garcia seeks a writ of prohibition preventing the superior court from taking any further action other than dismissing the felony charges against her. She claims the superior court erroneously denied her motion to dismiss based on unnecessary pretrial delay.

Petitioner was arrested for possession of heroin after a search warrant was executed at her home on January 20, 1983. At the jail, a matron conducting a booking search allegedly found additional balloons of heroin in petitioner’s pocket. Petitioner was released on bond prior to arraignment. As directed, petitioner appeared for arraignment on February 11, 1983; however, no complaint had been filed. After several more court appearances still no complaint had been filed, and the court eventually exonerated the bail bond. A complaint was filed on December 30, 1983. Petitioner appeared in court on January 11, 1984, in response to a letter notifying her to appear for arraignment on the complaint.

Although petitioner filed a motion to dismiss in municipal court based on the delay in prosecution, the magistrate conducting the preliminary examination refused to hear the motion, and petitioner sought no…