By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
CASSOPOLIS - Preliminary examinations may be eliminated for certain crimes, Cass County Commissioner David Taylor, D-Edwardsburg, learned in Lansing last week.
As the attorney explained to his fellow county commissioners March 17, prelims or preliminary exams allow defendants an opportunity for a judge to review evidence before a court case reaches the trial stage.
Taylor traveled to Lansing last Monday, March 14, as part of his appointment to the Michigan Association of Counties (MAC) Judiciary Committee, which was briefed by a member of Attorney General Mike Cox's staff.
A second issue Taylor shared with the commission "is more problematic. It's what I call the tweaking of the sentencing guidelines. There's an elaborate procedure in Circuit Court for convicted felons whereby you figure how many offenses they have been involved in before and whether a weapon was involved."
Such factors are assigned points in determining a defendant's sentence.
The "problematic" part, Taylor said, is that the proposal at the state level would alter sentences slightly - a point in each category - but the "net result will be 300 or 400 people who aren't going to prison," Taylor said. "Instead, they will be in the county jails. This will cause pressure for our sheriff and our prosecutor.