Senate Bill No. 288
(By Senators McKenzie and Bowman)
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[Introduced January 26, 2004; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §50-5-7 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, 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 §50-5-7 of the code of West Virginia,1931, 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 if 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
then the defendant shall receive a preliminary hearing on the
misdemeanor charge at the same time as the felony offense and the
court with jurisdiction over the felony offense may conduct the
trial for both offenses.
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.