Ex parte Winthrop

The prisoner is in custody of the sheriff of San Francisco under an order holding him to answer on a charge of murder, and asks to be released upon the ground that he was committed without reasonable or probable cause. With his return to the writ of habeas corpus the sheriff has submitted a transcript of the evidence adduced at the examination of the prisoner before the committing magistrate, which I have carefully considered. The result is that, while I do not deem it very satisfactory or convincing, I still cannot say that it is legally insufficient to justify the order holding the prisoner to answer. To sustain such an order, it is not necessary that the evidence should be so convincing as to justify a verdict against the suspected party, but it is sufficient if it points to him, and induces a belief that he may have committed the offense charged. It is unnecessary, and would perhaps be improper, to review the evidence in detail ; and I content myself with saying that while the conduct and bearing of the prisoner at and subsequent to the time when he was first seen in company with Mrs. Mathews at the cemetery have been those of an innocent and humane man, and while the evidence…