What happens at a preliminary hearing?

Preliminary hearings are known more commonly as prelims and are basically the beginning of criminal prosecution. For the most part, the hearing serves as a filter to throw out cases where sufficient evidence does not exist in the case to actually have it progress in the judicial system and criminal defense lawyers know all about this. During prelims, the prosecution will have to present their claims and evidence that they have against the suspect and move the judge to actually push the case to trial.

It needs to be understood that preliminary hearings are only held if and when the charged suspect pleads not guilty to a case and wants to fight the charges against him or her. However, if the suspect was to plead guilty or plead with no contest, then obviously, there is no requirement for a preliminary hearing to occur.

The suspect in this case would be automatically be convicted of his or her charges and the case would then skip preliminary hearings and trials and go straight into sentencing according to criminal defense attorneys. This can also happen in DUI cases as well and Mike Tyson and Mel Gibson know all about this.

In some states, however, prosecutors have the option of overthrowing the need for a preliminary hearing by convening a grand jury and obtaining an indictment. Furthermore, sometimes, as part of their defense strategy, the defendant and his or her legal counsel may themselves waive off the right to a preliminary hearing and thereby skip it altogether. This is not very common and is only used sometimes to further support their case itself.

Before it even gets this far, before the criminal justice mud is even over your ankles, you need legal assistance. No worries, legal assistance is right around the virtual corner. Press right here: Criminal-Defense.USAttorneys.com.

When are prelims held?

The preliminary hearing generally occurs almost right away after charges are filed. It is integral that the defendant knows exactly how to go about presenting himself or herself at this hearing because it can potentially affect how the rest of the case unfolds enough to even impact the final verdict in the case.

We strongly urge anyone that has been charged with a crime to hire a criminal defense lawyer as soon as possible, and work with them about what needs to be said and done during the preliminary hearing. The lawyer will help you all the way from what to wear and what to say and also how to say it. Have you seen The Good Wife? Have you seen how many cases Justin Coyne (Romany Malco) had in that show? Now he was volunteering but you do not want to rely on a public defender. Their case is load is deep – they can only devote so much time on your case.  

Defendants do have a say in when they want the preliminary hearing to take place. The have the right to waive the preliminary hearing which will essentially post pone the hearing to a more convenient time.

What happens during a prelim?

Preliminary hearings are a vital part of the entire litigation process and they often serve as a trailer of what the trial itself will be premised around in terms of defense strategies and the claims of the prosecution.

As already mentioned, it is crucial to focus on this hearing as it can make or break your case. It needs to be reiterated that the help of a professional criminal defense lawyer can really be the difference in being free or a convicted criminal wearing an orange jump suit. You can think of OJ when you think of that (but he is in jail now!)! So if you find yourself charged with any type of crime make sure to seek legal counsel immediately.