Opinion ID: 1457749
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Arrest and Subsequent Judicial Proceedings

Text: Two days after the warrant issued, three officers, each in his or her own vehicle, pulled up in front of Dineen Trucking. Beck was at his desk. Wearing bulletproof vests and with weapons unharnessed, the officers entered Beck's office, arrested him, and handcuffed him. The officers took the handcuffed Beck outside and waited with him at the front of his business. Sergeant Mendenhall had arrived but remained off the property, watching the arrest from his car. After half an hour, another police car arrived to take Beck to the police station and then to jail. Beck spent five hours in jail before he posted bail, which was set at $15,000. At Beck's preliminary hearing the judge described himself as troubled by this case on many levels, not the least of which is that it's been filed as a felony. Regarding the standard of proof in a preliminary hearing as minimal, the judge allowed the case to go forward but urged the defense to challenge the Court's ruling via 995. California Penal Code § 995 allows a court to set aside an indictment or information for, among other things, lack of probable cause. Beck's lawyer did file a § 995 motion, and a second judge set aside the charges. Citing People v. Superior Court of San Francisco (Anderson), 151 Cal.App.3d 893, 199 Cal.Rptr. 150 (1984), which requires a threat of violence to support a threat violation of § 69, the judge held that obviously, [Beck's] statement does not contain any element of violence that I can find, and that there was no indication of any immediate threat of physical violence whatsoever. He dismissed the criminal case against Beck. A few months later, Upland voluntarily dismissed the zoning charges against Beck as well. [3]