What is a Preliminary Hearing?
Within some criminal justice systems, a preliminary hearing (evidentiary hearing, often abbreviated verbally as a “prelim”) is a proceeding, after a criminal complaint has been filed by the prosecutor, to determine whether, and to what extent, criminal charges and civil cause of actions will be heard (by a court), what evidence will be admitted, and what else must be done (before a case can proceed). At such a hearing, the defendant may be assisted by counsel, indeed in many jurisdictions there is a right to counsel at the preliminary hearing. In the U.S., since it represents the initiation of “adversarial judicial proceedings”, the indigent suspect’s right to appointed counsel attaches at this point.
The preliminary hearing is a court proceeding where the District Attorney’s Office presents evidence to convince a judge that there is reasonable cause to believe a felony crime has been committed – and that the person charged is the one who committed it. This hearing is not heard by a jury; and, at this point in the criminal process, the district attorney’s case does not have to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The primary purpose of the preliminary hearing is to weed out charges that cannot be supported by competent evidence. At a preliminary hearing, the district attorney may use police officers to present the statements of victims and witnesses to convince the judge that there is enough evidence to justify a jury trial (this is called a “holding order”). Because the threshold required to get a “holding order” is low, the vast majority of those charged with a crime are sent over for a jury trial. Understandably, the preliminary hearing can be terribly frustrating for a person wh
This court procedure is the first step in a criminal case. A preliminary hearing is the right of the person charged with the crime. It is their chance to hear the evidence that the state has against them. A judge also decides if there is enough probable cause to charge defendant with the crime they are accused of committing.
At the preliminary hearing, the judge will be presented with the basis of the prosecution’s case, and he or she must make a determination as to whether there is sufficient evidence to force a defendant to stand trial. In making this decision, the judge will evaluate the evidence using a “probable cause” standard. “Probable cause” is generally considered to be “a reasonable belief that a crime had been committed.” If the court should find that there is no probable cause, the case against the defendant will be dismissed.
