What Happens at a Preliminary Hearing? West Covina Felony Crimes Defense Attorney Explains

Explanation About Preliminary Hearings. 626-827-7222
What happens at a preliminary hearing?’

The preliminary hearing takes place after your arraignment and is only heard in a felony case (with the caveat explained below). The preliminary hearing is also known as a “prelim” – for short – or a probable cause hearing. Depending on the number of witnesses and complexity of the issues involved, the hearing can last as little as twenty minutes to multiple hours. The hearing must generally occur within ten days of the arraignment or plea (whichever takes place later); however, usually, the defendant will waive his or her right to go to a preliminary hearing within ten days and have the case heard as an “early disposition proceeding” or “EDP.” This gives your attorney as well as the prosecutor the opportunity to resolve the case without the necessity of going forward with the case (i.e., plea bargain). However, oftentimes no such resolution takes place prior to prelim and/or your attorney may first want to conduct the preliminary hearing to test the strengths and weaknesses of the prosecutor’s case against you. A good attorney can upset the prosecutor’s case by impeaching the credibility of his or her witnesses, allowing your lawyer to get leverage to negotiate a resolution that is more favorable to you in the long run.

After a prosecutor has filed a felony criminal complaint at the West Covina courthouse (or any other California Superior Court, i.e., Kern County Superior Court), the court will hear evidence aimed at demonstrating that there exists sufficient evidence to proceed with pre-trial proceedings and, ultimately, a trial (bench trial or jury trial). The objective of this hearing is for the court to ascertain whether there exists “strong suspicion” that (i) a crime was committed and (ii) you, the defendant, are guilty of that crime. Unlike a trial (to which a preliminary hearing is often compared), there is no jury to hear the prosecutor’s case or the defendant’s defense and the burden of proof for the prosecutor is much, much lower than “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

‘If I am being prosecuted for a misdemeanor as well as a felony, will the misdemeanor also be heard?’

Yes. The court will hear evidence regarding your purported culpability for all the crimes of which you are accused, INCLUDING any misdemeanor charges. An effective West Covina criminal defense attorney will seek to convince the judge that insufficient evidence exists to “bind you over” to the pretrial phase of the case and, accordingly, that your case should be dismissed.

More about West Covina courthouse preliminary hearings:

A preliminary hearing is held early on in the lifespan of a California felony case. It is a specialized proceeding heard before a superior court judge to see if there is enough evidence in the case to determine if you should be “held to answer” for the charges. The prosecutor will put on the testimony of the police officer(s) and/or investigating officer(s), as well as any other witnesses that the prosecutor may think will help convince the judge that you should be held to answer.

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WEST COVINA CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS -- THE COIMBRA LAW FIRM -- SUCCESSFULLY REPRESENTED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CALIFORNIA CRIMINAL CLIENTS AT PRELIMINARY HEARINGS AND ALL STATE AND FEDERAL CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

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COMPLIMENTED BY PRESIDING FELONY JUDGE @ TORRANCE SUPERIOR COURT FOR LEGAL WRITING SKILLS: "This is the best [Motion to Suppress Evidence] I've ever read" CIRCA NOVEMBER 2009

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