Q: Can a suspect be detained in jail without sufficient evidence after a preliminary trial?
I was held in jail with a 50 thousand dollar bail after a judge stated during a preliminary trial, (and this is from a transcript), "I would feel it's certainly not enough for beyond a reasonable doubt but certainly enough for suspicion."
My lawyer stated this before the Judge made the above response, "I believe based on the testimony of the Officer, there is not sufficient evidence to hold Mr. Watson (me) for the crime charged as he was one of at least two people who were in the house at the time who fit the description that the girl gave them."
The victim identified the assailant as tall, white, and she pretended to be asleep, there were no lights on in the room, and both males present were tall and white male adults. There was no physical evidence to support the charges I was facing and they did a sexual assault kit on me way before my preliminary trial. I was told by my lawyer there was no physical evidence but I could lose if I took it to trial. I did not do the crime...
A: The standard at a preliminary hearing is probable cause. It’s a pretty low bar. The easier way to say it is: there’s some reason to believe this person may have done this. The judge, it sounds like, found probable cause but was warning the state that he didn’t think the case was strong enough for trial.
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