California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Slaughter, 200 Cal.Rptr. 448, 35 Cal.3d 629, 677 P.2d 854 (Cal. 1984):
Penal Code sections 858 through 883 implement the "examination and commitment" provision of the Constitution. Most pertinent to the present case are sections 860, 871, and 872. These statutes require a magistrate to conduct a preliminary examination ( 860) and to determine, "after hearing the proofs" ( 871), whether "a public offense has been committed" and whether "there is sufficient cause to believe the defendant guilty thereof ...." ( 872, subd. (a); see also 871.) 4 "[T]he burden is on the prosecution to produce evidence that there is a reasonable probability, enough to induce a strong suspicion in the mind of a man of ordinary caution or prudence, that a crime has been committed, and that defendant is guilty." (Garabedian v. Superior Court (1963) 59 Cal.2d 124, 126-127, 28 Cal.Rptr. 318, 378 P.2d 590.)
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