Goodwin
Goodwin v. Superior Court
Opinion
Opinion
Willhite, J.
Introduction
California law grants jurisdiction to issue many types of arrest warrants. Thus, for instance, when a criminal complaint is filed, a magistrate may issue an arrest warrant for the accused. (Pen. Code, § 813.) When the grand jury returns an indictment, the court may issue a warrant for the person indicted if he fails to appear for arraignment. (Pen. Code, §§ 945, 979.) Before the filing of criminal charges, the court may authorize a residential arrest by issuing a so-called Ramey warrant (People v. Ramey (1976) 16 Cal.3d 263 [ 127 Cal.Rptr. 629 , 545 P.2d 1333 ]; now codifed as Pen. Code, § 817). The instant case, however, involves none of these standard warrants. Rather, it involves a court order of a novel kind—an ex parte order, issued before the institution of any criminal proceedings, compelling a person who is out of custody to appear at a lineup and submit himself to custody for that limited purpose. We hold that California law does not confer jurisdiction to enter such an order. Hence, we will grant a peremptory writ of prohibition restraining the trial court from enforcing it.