Section 6.3 Legal Purpose of Hearing

• Library: Criminal Practice 2012 Supp

C. (§6.3) Legal Purpose of Hearing

The sole legal purpose of a preliminary hearing is the probable cause determination. If from the evidence presented it appears to the judge that there is “probable cause to believe that a felony has been committed and that the defendant has committed it, the judge shall order the defendant to appear” in the court having jurisdiction over the offense; otherwise, the judge shall discharge the defendant. Rule 22.09(b); State v. Woods, 723 S.W.2d 488 (Mo. App. S.D. 1986); Nero v. State, 579 S.W.2d 638 (Mo. App. E.D. 1979). There is no general constitutional right to a preliminary hearing. Lem Woon v. Oregon, 229 U.S. 586 (1913) (a preliminary hearing or examination did not exist under the common law).

When originally proposed, what is now Rule 22.09(b) provided for the contingency (when there was a finding of probable cause) that the felony complained of had been committed. Before the Rule became effective, however, the present language requiring only a finding that “a felony” had been committed was substituted. See State ex rel. Thomas v....