Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

These are all questions that you should present to your lawyer. You have a right to have your preliminary hearing heard within ten court days, and in no case later than sixty days, from your arraignment. However, there are many good reasons to waive those time limits in a particular case, such as additional negotiations. If a date is set, the judge will take into account the schedules of the prosecutor, the defense attorneys and any witnesses.

A preliminary hearing is designed to weed out cases where there is not enough evidence to proceed to trial. The prosecution has to present evidence to convince the judge there is a strong suspicion of the defendant's guilt; this is a much lower standard that the burden of proof at trial, which is beyond a reasonable doubt.

The rules of evidence are relaxed at a preliminary hearing, so a police officer can testify to what witnesses said. In the vast majority of cases, those witnesses would have to personally testify at trial.

In most cases, the defense does not present evidence at the preliminary hearing. It only gives the prosecution an opportunity to preview the defense and cross-examine defense witnesses.

Again, your attorney is in a much better position to answer these questions as they apply to your particular case.