Opinion ID: 1641998
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Bindover

Text: The test to be applied on review of a bindover after a preliminary examination has been summarized by this court in the following manner: [7] `The reviewing court can examine the evidence only sufficiently to discover whether there was any substantial ground for the exercise of judgment by the committing magistrate. When the reviewing court has discovered that there is competent evidence for the judicial mind of the examining magistrate to act on in determining the existence of the essential facts, it has reached the limit of its jurisdiction and cannot go beyond that and weigh the evidence.' State v. Berby, 81 Wis. 2d 677, 684, 260 N.W.2d 798 (1978). [3] The defendant's challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence relates to the question of whether the defendant failed to abandon the vehicle. A review of the testimony presented at the preliminary examination, however, demonstrates that Officer Anderson testified that he passed the truck driven by the defendant and promptly made a U-turn to pursue the vehicle. Within a matter of minutes he saw the truck pull off to the side of the road and observed two individuals fleeing from that area. This testimony, when added to the totality of the circumstances, creates more than an inference that the truck had been deserted due to the defendant's fear of immediate apprehension and detention. Thus, we find that the evidence in the record supports the magistrate's exercise of discretion in binding the defendant over for trial.