Late last month, 36th District Court began holding its preliminary hearings at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, which houses the criminal division of the Wayne County Circuit Court.
The change will reduce the safety risks and time involved in transporting defendants from jail to 36th District Court, said Judge Michael J. Talbot, the 36th district’s special judicial administrator.
The change should also cut down on adjournments of preliminary hearings, Talbot added, which lead to increased jail time and delay.
“The people who are involved in a preliminary exam — not only the defendant, but also the prosecutor, defense counsel, and law enforcement — work in the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, but to attend preliminary hearings, they had to come over to 36th District,” Talbot explained.
Often, he said, one or more of people involved were in a hearing at Frank Murphy could not make it to the district court building in time for the hearing, so the court would adjourn the hearing.
“The result was that defendants were spending more time in jail — at taxpayer expense — and these cases were not being resolved in a timely way,” the judge said. “By holding preliminary hearings at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, we are cutting out one of the primary causes of delay.”
Judge Timothy M. Kenny, presiding judge of the Wayne County Circuit Court’s Criminal Division, said the change offers benefits for his court also.
“From the circuit court’s perspective, having preliminary examinations in the circuit courthouse means that trial witnesses and attorneys will be more readily available for circuit court proceedings,” Kenny said. “Moreover, police officers frequently testify in multiple cases on the same day, so by having preliminary examinations at Frank Murphy, we’re reducing police officers’ travel time and associated delays.”
36th District Court Judge Kevin Robbins will serve as presiding judge of a group of four other judges assigned to hear preliminary hearings.
Preliminary hearings are held in felony cases to determine if there is probable cause to bind a defendant over for trial.
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