The California Courts of Appeal 2nd District recently ruled on a case in which a man was charged a felony and two misdemeanors. The man’s attorney challenged the sufficiency of the evidence of one of the misdemeanors, stating that is was not proved at preliminary hearing. The trial court ruled that is was not necessary to prove it at preliminary hearing because it was a misdemeanor; and that only felonies need be proven at preliminary hearing. The California Courts of Appeal ruled otherwise.
FELONY AND MISDEMEANOR PROCESS IN CA:
In California if one is charged with a misdemeanor, the District Attorney’s office is not required to have a hearing on the sufficiency of evidence to go to trial. There is an arraignment, then pre-trials where attorneys negotiate, and if there is no resolution, then a trial. The trial is where the case is either proven or not proven.
With felonies it is different. If one is charged with a felony, the District Attorney must prove the sufficiency of evidence before there can be a trial. This can be done one of two ways. 1) The court holds a preliminary hearing, which is like a mini-trial with no jury. The Judge hears the evidence and decides if there is enough to support the charges being sought. 2) A grand jury indictment. This is where the District Attorney presents the case to grand jury. If they decide there’s enough evidence- the case can go to trial.
Once the sufficiency of the evidence is shown to support the charges, an Information is filed with all the charges proved at preliminary hearing or grand jury.
What happened in this case is that the District Attorney attempted to add a misdemeanor charge that was not proven at preliminary hearing to the Information. The theory being that since misdemeanors do not need a preliminary hearing or grand jury- they can add whatever ones they want to charge to the Information. NOT SO said the California Appellate Court. If the District Attorney wants to join misdemeanors with felony charges- THEY MUST BE PROVEN AT GRAND JURY OR PRELIMINARY HEARING.
If you or a loved one have been charged with a felony or misdemeanor contact the experienced Southern California criminal defense attorneys at Wallin & Klarich. We’ve have been helping criminal defendants for over 30 years. Call us at (888) 280-6839 or visit us at www.wklaw.com.
