Salazar

Petitioner Israel Villa Salazar is a defendant in a criminal prosecution for attempted murder. He seeks a statutory writ of prohibition (Pen. Code, § 999 subd. (a)) following respondent court’s denial of his motion to set aside two sentence enhancement allegations of the information (§ 995). He contends that no evidence was presented at the preliminary hearing to support the enhancements. We agree. We therefore grant the petition.

Scope of Review

“In determining if charges in an information can withstand a motion under section 995, neither the superior court nor the appellate court may reweigh the evidence or determine the credibility of the witnesses. [Citations.] Ordinarily, if there is some evidence in support of the information, the reviewing court will not inquire into its sufficiency. [Citations.] Thus, an indictment or information should be set aside only when there is a total absence of evidence to support a necessary element of the offense charged. [Citations.] [¶] ‘[Although there must be some showing as to the existence of each element of the charged crime [citation] such a showing may be made by means of circumstantial evidence supportive of reasonable…