In Re Reid

The defendant in the above-entitled matter seeks discharge, under a writ of habeas corpus, from a commitment of the examining magistrate on preliminary examination in the Justice’s Court of the third township of the county of Fresno, under a complaint charging defendant with manslaughter, and failure to stop and render assistance after an automobile accident. It is the claim of petitioner that the evidence introduced on the preliminary hearing is insufficient to show probable cause for the order of commitment.

The transcript of the evidence taken on the examination is before us. It sufficiently appears that one Clarence Lindstrum was, on the night of November 18, 1929, killed by being run into by an automobile. He was apparently walking in a westerly direction on Tulare Avenue, a high way near the city of Fresno. There were no eye-witnesses of the tragedy, and the connection of the defendant therewith rests wholly upon circumstantial evidence.

We think, however, the evidence is sufficient to show probable cause for a finding that the deceased was struck and killed by an automobile driven by the defendant. There is, however, nothing to support the conclusion that the accident was…