Opinion ID: 1207145
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Failure to Conduct a Preliminary Hearing

Text: In State ex rel. Rowe v. Ferguson, W.Va., 268 S.E.2d 45 (1980), we held that an accused who is arrested for an indictable offense is entitled to a preliminary hearing under the provisions of W.Va.Code § 62-1-8 (1977 Replacement Vol.) prior to presentation of the offense to the grand jury, but that under the statute, no such right exists once an indictment has been returned against the accused. Since there is no constitutional right to a preliminary hearing, [11] and since the appellant here was properly indicted by a Logan County grand jury less than three weeks after his arrest, the failure to afford him a preliminary hearing does not constitute grounds for reversing his conviction. See Guthrie v. Boles, 261 F.Supp. 852 (N.D.W.Va.1967).