Abstract
When prosecutors file serious criminal charges in Utah, the defendant is entitled to a preliminary hearing. At this hearing, witnesses will testify and be cross-examined to determine if the defendant should be bound over to face trial. For many decades, however, Utah has held such hearings only for felony offenses, not misdemeanors. In this respect, Utah practice tracked that of the vast majority of other states, which limit the use of preliminary hearings to more serious felony crimes. The reasons for limiting preliminary hearings to more serious felony cases are easy to understand. Preliminary hearings are costly and time consuming. They can also burden victims of crime with the need to testify and be cross-examined about the details of crimes committed against them. These clear costs are not outweighed by the very limited value that preliminary hearings provide, namely allowing judicial review of a prosecutor’s evidence. For misdemeanor prosecutions, a judge can easily decide the question of probable cause based on the information recounted in the charging document without holding an evidentiary hearing.
Recommended Citation
Cassell, Paul G. and Goodwin, Thomas E.
(2011)
"Protecting Taxpayers and Crime Victims:
The Case for Restricting Utah’s Preliminary
Hearings to Felony Offenses,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 2011:
No.
4, Article 4.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol2011/iss4/4