Legal Question in Criminal Law in Pennsylvania

Re: Were my rights violated?

You should think of your preliminary hearing as a card game like poker. The Commonwealth must show you their cards. You don't have to show any cards. After the preliminary hearing the Judge decides what charges, if any, proceed for an actual trial. If the Commonwealth chooses not to call a witness, you should argue that they haven't shown enough to sustain the elements of the charges to send you to common pleas court to go to trial. If your intent is to truly rumble on your case at trial, then you welcome the Commonwealth not doing a sufficient job on their case at the preliminary. In other words, if you really want to fight your case, then they can call whomever they want at the preliminary and you will live to fight for another day--the trial. Don't sweat the preliminary hearing.