Miller v. Superior Court

During the last three and one-half years, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (the district attorney) has filed three criminal complaints charging petitioner Steven Robert Miller with robbery, first-degree burglary, and automobile theft, conducted three preliminary examinations, and twice dismissed the action on the eve of trial. After the third filing, petitioner unsuccessfully moved to dismiss the complaint, relying on Penal Code sections 1387 and 1387.1. Following the magistrate’s denial of his motion to dismiss, petitioner filed a motion to set aside the information. He now seeks extraordinary writ relief from the superior court’s denial of this motion. We deny the petition and affirm the magistrate’s ruling.

I

Facts and Procedural History

The facts of the alleged crime are not relevant to the issues at hand and may be briefly stated: petitioner is accused of entering the home of an elderly man and taking various items of the man’s property, including his car. The relevant facts are derived from the procedural history, which is convoluted and not particularly exciting. Those with short attention spans are advised to break out a new highlighter or be…