Steps taken in appellate courts to overturn a retrial order do not constitute prosecution of the proceeding in the trial court for the purposes of want of prosecution, particularly where those steps lack any reasonable basis. A Court of Appeal order for a new trial does not circumscribe the trial court's power to dismiss for want of prosecution. To constitute a 'step' in the proceeding for want of prosecution purposes, the step must progress the action towards a conclusion, and meritless attempts to overturn an appellate order do not satisfy this requirement.
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