State v. Thornton

HUSKINS, Justice.

Before pleading to the charges contained in the bills of indictment, defendant moved that both cases be remanded to the district court for a preliminary hearing. Denial of this motion constitutes defendant’s first assignment of error.

Defendant asks this Court to reexamine prior decisions holding that a preliminary hearing is not an essential prerequisite to a valid indictment. He argues that a mandatory preliminary hearing prior to indictment would result in a more realistic evaluation of the case by both prosecution and defense, and thus lead to more effective…