Assembly bill 223[79], also introduced by Wheelan, provided another
cause for the setting aside of an indictment by the Court in which the
defendant is arraigned, upon such defendant's motion. The Commonwealth
bills aimed to prevent technical attacks upon indictments. The third of
the Wheelan bills - No. 223 - opened the way for further technical
attacks, by providing that the Court must set aside the indictment "when
it appears from the testimony taken before the Grand jury that the
defendant has been indicted upon a criminal charge without reasonable or
probable cause."

This measure passed both Houses. It opened the way for review before the
Court of the testimony taken in the Grand jury room, and endless
technical objections, all of which by clever counsel can be employed to
delay the case being brought before a trial jury, and in the end perhaps
wear out the prosecution, thus preventing the case being tried on its
merits. With that section in the law two years ago, it is a question
whether the defendants in the graft prosecution at San Francisco would
ever have been brought to trial.

It will be seen that while the Commonwealth Club bills aimed to decrease
the opportunities for technical defense of men charged with crime, and
thus permit the cases being tried on their merits, the Wheelan bills
increased opportunity for technical objection.

The history of the passage of the Wheelan bills is practically the same
in each instance.

The three bills were introduced by Mr. Wheelan on January 11th, and
referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee. The Committee, which
pigeon-holed sixty-three of the Commonwealth Club bills, and reported