COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 396
(By Senator Love)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 26, 2003.]
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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 joinder
of misdemeanor prosecutions in circuit court originally
charged in state court where a defendant is charged by
complaint with felonies and misdemeanors which are parts of
the same transaction or a common scheme or plan.
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
constitute parts of a common scheme or plan. In magistrate court
where a misdemeanor is also charged with a felony offense, the
defendant is entitled to a preliminary hearing on the misdemeanor
charge which shall be held at the time set for the felony offense
or offenses.
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(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.)