If the Defendant has been held in jail for 21 days without any formal felony charges (i.e., charges brought by Information or Indictment) being filed in the case, the Defendant can file for a preliminary hearing. Once the motion is filed, the court must set a hearing at which the State, in order for the defendant to remain in custody, must present [a] witness/es who can testify to enough facts for the judge to determine that there is probable cause to believe a criminal offense was committed and that the defendant committed it. If the state fails, then the defendant is to be released on his/her own recognizance and ordered to appear at future hearings/proceedings. Note: release, under this rule, does not mean the prosecution is over. Charges can still be filed and the defendant prosecuted.
If the Defendant is entitled to a preliminary hearing (and desires one*) -- but has not seen or talked to his attorney, he needs to call (if possible) and/or write to his attorney -- explaining he needs to talk to him ASAP with regard to filing for a preliminary hearing. If the attorney is an Assistant Public Defender, and unsuccessful attempts already have been made to contact him/her with regard to a preliminary hearing, you can try to call and/or write to the "elected" Public Defender (i.e., the assigned attorney's boss) -- and explain the situation and that you already made numerous attempts to resolve the matter with the assigned attorney.
*Sometimes a defendant may be entitled to a preliminary hearing, but, it may not always be the desirable action to take from a strategic standpoint. For example, if the defendant is being held on some charges in an unrelated case, and unable to obtain release on that case, then the defendant may not want to seek release on the case that would be eligible for a preliminary hearing. It usually (although there are exceptions) is not desirable to be released on one case (and no longer earn jail time on it) if the defendant is going to be held in custody anyway.
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