Senate Bill No. 396
(By Senator Love)
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[Introduced January 29, 2003; 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 providing for the
continuation of misdemeanor prosecutions in cases where a
defendant is charged by complaint with felonies and
misdemeanors.
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 unless
the misdemeanor offense is also charged with a felony offense and
both offenses arise out of the same act or transaction or arise out
of two or more acts or transactions connected together or
constituting parts of a common scheme or plan. In magistrate court
where a misdemeanor is also charged with a felony offense, the
defendant shall receive a preliminary hearing on the misdemeanor
charge at the same time as the felony offense.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to provide for the
continuation of misdemeanor prosecutions in cases where a defendant
is charged by complaint with felonies and misdemeanors.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.