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Name: People v. Swanson-Birabent
Case #: H025036
Opinion Date: 12/19/2003
Citation: 114 Cal.App.4th 733
Summary

The evidence at the preliminary hearing was sufficient to establish a reasonable suspicion that defendant aided and abetted the molestation of her daughter even though the only act established by the testimony was defendant’s passive observation of her boyfriend’s molestation of the child. To survive a section 995 challenge, the magistrate’s findings need only be supported by evidence establishing reasonable and probable cause. Here, sufficient evidence showed that defendant had knowledge of the molestation and that her passive observation both encouraged the perpetrator’s actions and discouraged her daughter from seeking help. Thus, there was sufficient evidence to show that defendant’s failure to act constituted more than mere presence at the scene and provided a rational ground for assuming the possibility that she aided and abetted the molestation.