Opinion ID: 1940768
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Timeliness of the Filing of the 1984 Information Under Pre-1978 Law.

Text: Defendant urges that the information against him should have been dismissed because it was not filed within sixty days of the time he was held to answer as required by Iowa Code section 795.1 (1977). The court of appeals disagreed. Because defendant did not elect to be tried under the revised criminal code, pre-1978 law applies to both the substantive and procedural aspects of the present prosecution. See Iowa Code § 801.5(1) (1983). The concept of being held to answer in order to trigger the thirty-day period for filing an indictment or information under pre-1978 law was tied to (a) an order by a committing magistrate binding the charges over to a grand jury following a preliminary hearing, or (b) waiver of a preliminary hearing by the accused. State v. Davis, 259 N.W.2d 843, 845 (Iowa 1977). Defendant has failed to demonstrate that either of these events occurred in the present case so as to trigger the time limitations which are contained in section 795.1. We find no merit in defendant's claim that the information was untimely under that statute.