People v. Pompa-Ortiz

In People v. Pompa-Ortiz (1980) 27 Cal.3d 519, 529, the California Supreme Court held illegalities in criminal preliminary hearings that are not "jurisdictional in the fundamental sense" are not reversible per se on an appeal following the subsequent trial. Rather, such illegalities must be reviewed "under the appropriate standard of prejudicial error and shall require reversal only if defendant can show that he was deprived of a fair trial or otherwise suffered prejudice as a result of the error at the preliminary examination." (Ibid.) Under Pompa-Ortiz, "the right to relief without any showing of prejudice will be limited to pretrial challenges of irregularities. At that time, by application for extraordinary writ, the matter can be expeditiously returned to the magistrate for proceedings free of the charged defects." (Pompa-Ortiz, supra, 27 Cal.3d at p. 529.)