Criminal Case Thrown Out--PC 859b

Favor v. Super. Ct. Court: California Courts of Appeal, Docket: E075340 (Fourth Appellate District), Opinion Date: January 13, 2021. Petitioner Isaac Favor agreed to a limited waiver of his right to a preliminary hearing (usually 60 days of arraignment), consenting to a new deadline that was 76 days after arraignment. The preliminary hearing was not held by that date, so Favor moved for mandatory dismissal under Penal Code section 859b. The State argued there could be no limited waiver of the 60-day deadline, so Favor’s waiver was a general one that allowed the preliminary hearing to be set later than he authorized, even without a further waiver. The Court of Appeal rejected that argument and joined Garcia v. Superior Court, 47 Cal.App.5th 631 (2020) in enforcing a limited waiver of the 60-day preliminary hearing deadline. Favor’s writ petition was granted and the trial court was ordered to grant his motion to dismiss.