State Ex Rel. Buckson v. Wahl

HERRMANN, Justice.

The crux of this certification 1 is the question of whether a defendant is entitled to a preliminary hearing when brought before a justice of the peace (hereinafter “magistrate”) charged with a misdemeanor, the trial and final disposition of which is not within the magistrate’s jurisdiction.

The certification arises indirectly from prosecutions in which the defendants are charged with possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor in violation of 16 Del.C. § 4702. 2 The stipulated facts may be restated as follows:

I

An automobile occupied by the six defendants was stopped by the police…