Section 6.18 Should Defendant Testify?

• Library: Criminal Practice 2012 Supp

C. (§6.18) Should Defendant Testify?

Under no circumstances should the defendant be called to the witness stand and examined during a preliminary hearing. There is no advantage to subjecting the defendant to examination at this stage in the proceedings or in giving the prosecution an opportunity to discover the defendant’s case. If the issue of probable cause to hold the defendant for the charge rests solely on a question of credibility, the associate circuit judge will almost always bind the case over to the circuit court anyway; therefore, there is no reason to subject the defendant to...