Opinion ID: 1969584
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Divestiture by Indictment Juvenile Right to Preliminary Hearing

Text: Holder was arrested on August 20, 1994 and charged with Murder in the Second Degree and Conspiracy in the Second Degree. Holder requested a preliminary hearing in the Family Court and one was scheduled for September 8, 1994. Holder's first contention is that the Superior Court erred by refusing to transfer his case to the Family Court for a preliminary hearing after he had been indicted. Holder was indicted in the Superior Court on September 6, 1994 on the same charges for which he had been arrested. Holder sought to have the Superior Court dismiss the indictment and allow the matter to proceed to the previously scheduled preliminary hearing in the Family Court. The Superior Court denied the motion. Holder contends that a juvenile has a statutory right to a preliminary hearing in Family Court regardless of whether the juvenile has been indicted. Holder asserts that this absolute right is conferred by 10 Del.C. § 1010(b) (Section 1010(b)). Section 1010(b) provides that in cases where a juvenile is to be proceeded against as an adult, including Murder in the Second Degree; the [Family] Court shall, upon application, hold a preliminary hearing and, if the facts warrant, thereafter refer the child to the Superior Court. 10 Del.C. § 1010(b). This Court has previously recognized that there is no common law or [United States] constitutional right to a preliminary hearing. Jenkins v. State, Del.Supr., 305 A.2d 610, 614 (1973). In Jenkins, this Court explained that the right to a preliminary hearing may be provided by statute. Id. Such a procedural right may also be established by court rule. In fact, the Superior Court adopted a rule which affords such a right to adult defendants in a criminal proceeding. Super.Ct.Crim.R. 5(d). Rule 5(d). Rule 5 of the Superior Court Rules of Criminal Procedure (Rule 5) provides: A defendant is entitled to a preliminary examination, unless waived, when charged with any offense that is within the exclusive jurisdiction of, or that the attorney general chooses to prosecute in, Superior Court. Id. Rule 5 further provides, however, that the preliminary examination shall not be held if the defendant is indicted or if an information against the defendant is filed in Superior Court before the date set for the preliminary examination. Id. The purpose of a preliminary hearing is to have a neutral and detached determination of whether probable cause exists to believe that an offense has been committed and that the defendant committed it. Super.Ct.Crim.R. 5.1(a); see Schramm v. State, Del.Supr., 366 A.2d 1185, 1191-92 (1976). If the evidence presented at the preliminary hearing establishes that probable cause exists, the defendant will be bound over for indictment or trial in the appropriate court. Schramm v. State, 366 A.2d at 1192. Likewise, an indictment itself is in effect a finding of probable cause. Joy v. Superior Court, Del.Supr., 298 A.2d 315, 316 (1972); see Smith v. State, Del.Supr., 344 A.2d 251, 253 (1975). Accordingly, because the focus of both a preliminary hearing and an indictment is a determination of probable cause, an indictment eliminates the need for a preliminary hearing. Smith v. State, 344 A.2d at 253; Jenkins v. State, 305 A.2d at 615; Joy v. Superior Court, 298 A.2d at 316. The nature of a delinquency proceeding is inherently hybrid. The United States Supreme Court has acknowledged that although juvenile hearings that result in adjudications of delinquency are described as civil, they are realistically more like criminal trials. In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 87 S.Ct. 1428, 18 L.Ed.2d 527 (1967). Therefore, the Court in Gault held that the United States Constitution guarantees a juvenile the essentials of due process and fair treatment that are afforded to an adult defendant in a criminal prosecution. Id. at 31, 87 S.Ct. at 1445-46. There is no Federal Constitutional right, however, to a preliminary hearing. Rule 5 affords such a right to an adult criminal defendant in Delaware. That right is available, however, only to an adult defendant who has not yet been indicted on those charges. Smith v. State, 344 A.2d at 253. By statute, the right to a preliminary hearing has been extended to juveniles. Compare 10 Del.C. § 1010(b) with Super.Ct.Crim.R. 5(d). The juveniles' statutory right to a preliminary hearing, like the right conferred on adults by Rule 5, is subject to divestment by grand jury indictment. Compare 10 Del.C. § 1010(b) and Fam.Ct. Crim.R. 6C [1] with Super.Ct.Crim.R. 5(d); see also Jenkins v. State, 305 A.2d at 615. Once a juvenile is indicted by a grand jury, there has been a neutral determination of probable cause and there is no need for a neutral determination of probable cause at a preliminary hearing. Accord Fam.Ct.Crim.R. 6C(b). Therefore, the Superior Court properly denied Holder's motion to transfer his case to the Family Court for a preliminary hearing after Holder had been indicted.