SB272 INTR

Senate Bill No. 272
(By Senators Mitchell and Kessler)
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[Introduced January 21, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary

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A BILL to amend and reenact section seven, article five, chapter fifty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to magistrate court criminal jurisdiction; and providing that certain misdemeanor offenses charged with a felony offense may be tried in circuit court.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That section seven, article five, chapter fifty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 5. TRIALS, HEARINGS AND APPEALS.

§50-5-7. Right to trial in criminal cases.

Every defendant charged in a magistrate court in a criminal proceeding which is within the jurisdiction of the court shall have the right to a trial on the merits in the magistrate court: Provided, That, a misdemeanor offense charged in connection with a felony offense either arising out of the same act or transaction as the felony offense or constituting a part of a common scheme or plan of the felony, may be tried in circuit court even if the misdemeanor is originally charged in magistrate court. If a defendant is charged with a misdemeanor offense and a related felony offense in magistrate court and the misdemeanor offense is to be tried in circuit court with the felony offense, the defendant shall be taken before the magistrate for a preliminary hearing on the misdemeanor charge at the same time as the preliminary hearing on the felony offense is heard and with the same rights and protections provided by the constitution, applicable statutes and applicable rules of court as are applied to a defendant charged with a felony.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that certain misdemeanor offenses charged with a felony offense may be tried in circuit court.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added .