Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan
If its been 14 days since arraignment and no preliminary has been done, is this grounds for dismissal?
2 Answers from Attorneys
No. The time frame for exam has changed. If you need an experienced criminal defense attorney contact my office.
There are recent changes for newly filed felony cases found in MCL 766.4. Now, within 7-14 days after the district court arraignment, a "probable cause conference" (or, as some counties used to call them, a pre-exam conference) must be scheduled, and a preliminary exam would have to be set between 5 and 7 days after the probable cause conference. So, now, the actual preliminary examination hearing (a probable cause hearing on the felony allegations) could be held anywhere between the 6th day after the arraignment (assuming there was a PCC set the day of or day after the arraignment) and the 21st day after the arraignment (assuming the PCC was set the 14th day after the arraignment and the PE was set the full 7 days after that). Parties can stipulate to extend deadlines for good cause, and defendants can waive their right to have the hearings within that time frame. But extensions and delays are not unlimited because trial courts are required by the Supreme Court to move their cases along. As for your question of whether a case would be dismissed for missing one of these procedural deadlines, I'd answer, "No" because the dismissal would be "without prejudice", meaning that the prosecutor could refile the case, you'd be rearrested, re-arraigned, etc. So a dismissal would normally be a temporary "win".
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