(0:00) Hello, I’m Enrique Latoison from Latoison Law. This video is being brought to you by Commentary Creations, America’s most common-sense lawyer.
(0:10) Okay so what are we going to talk about today? What is a preliminary hearing in Pennsylvania? We at Latoison Law get these calls all day long. “I have a Preliminary Hearing coming up,
(0:20) I don’t know what it is, I don’t know what to do.” So, let’s start with that. Let’s just give you an example. Let’s just say someone is being accused of robbing a bank, they rob a bank, they are running
(0:30) down the street, dye pack explodes, blue all over him, he looks like a Smurf. Here come the police. Police arrest him. The first thing they do is they take him to the police station, they process them,
(0:40) and bring them in front of a judge. They have a preliminary arraignment. At the preliminary arraignment the judge sets the bail, reads the charges, and then the judge sets a date for a preliminary hearing.
(0:50) So now, what is a preliminary hearing? At the preliminary hearing, this is the first opportunity for the defense and the defendant to defend themselves. And what happens is, they go to court
(0:60) in the district, in the jurisdictional area, of where that dye pack exploded. Okay? So, that is the first place they go to court, and at that place,
(1:10) that is the perfect opportunity for the defense and the prosecution to put their case on. Prosecution gets to put their case on, the defense gets to defend it, gets to test the evidence,
(1:20) gets the opportunity to cross examine that evidence. So, what if that person was just walking down the street, in my example, and someone else handed him a bag of money and said, “hey it’s your lucky day” and then the
(1:30) dye pack exploded all over their face. What if someone was innocently arrested? What if they actually did it? Who knows, but the opportunity to test that evidence starts right there.
(1:40) Prosecution would put on their evidence and their witnesses. The bank teller, the officer, and basically, at that point, the defense gets an opportunity to cross examine
(1:50) that evidence. Ask questions, cross examine, say what did you see? When? What? Where? Why? Tell me what happened, all those different things. At the end of all that,
(2:00) both sides get to make an argument to the judge. And the judge gets to make a determination of two things. Not whether or not the defendant is guilty. Only whether or not there was enough evidence to make out
(2:10) each element of the crime at a prima facie level, which means more than likely. Basically, the prosecution only has to show a low burden of
(2:20) more than likely this person committed the crime, and more than likely all the elements of that crime have been shown to the court. If not, the judge dismisses those charges.
(2:30) Also at the preliminary hearing, is an opportunity for the defense and the prosecution to argue bail. Defendants would like to get the bail lowered, ask for bail arguments. Also, a lot of times,
(2:40) you can also work out an agreement, sometimes for charges to be dismissed. Preliminary hearings are a very important part of the process. You should have a very experienced attorney working for you.
(2:50) And the prosecution and the defense, they put on what looks like a mini trial. Thank you, Enrique Latoison from Latoison Law.
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