What is a Preliminary Hearing?
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