NO CHARGES CAN BE ADDED AFTER DEFENDANT WAIVES PRELIM
NO CHARGES CAN BE ADDED AFTER A DEFENDANT WAIVES PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION
The defendant here waived prelim. The DA amended the information just before trial to add charges not alleged in the felony complaint. Winters (221 Cal.App.3d 997) bars this.
This California Court of Appeal reaffirms Winters in a pretty clear statement:
"Simply put, [PC] section 1009 prohibits adding new charges to an accusatory pleading after the defendant has waived his right to a preliminary hearing on that pleading. In enacting section 1009, the Legislature determined that an accusatory pleading cannot be amended based on evidence not taken at the preliminary hearing. And when, as here, no preliminary hearing is held, the pleading cannot be amended to add additional charges."
The bad news is that the reversal here is based on ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to object on this ground in the trial court.
People v. Peyton; 2009 DJ DAR 11787; DJ, 8/12/09; C/A 4th
