Burris v. Superior Court

Opinion

FRANSON, J.

Proceeding in prohibition to restrain the further prosecution of petitioner on felony counts of perjury and grand theft. Writ denied.

The petition presents a question of first impression: Does a magistrate at a preliminary hearing on a complaint charging, both a felony and a misdemeanor offense have jurisdiction to pronounce judgment and impose sentence on the misdemeanor charge absent a contemporaneous disposition of the felony charge? We hold that the magistrate does not.

Statement of the Case

A criminal complaint was filed in the Municipal Court of the Visalia Judicial…