Stolen car dismissed after preliminary hearing: JG hired me after he was arrested for possession of a stolen motor vehicle (PSMV). In this case, I was able to conduct a preliminary hearing. A Preliminary hearing is also known as a probable cause hearing. For a case to be assigned to a trial judge, a prosecutor must show, that it is more likely than not that, a crime occurred, and the arrested defendant is the person who committed the crime. In Illinois, probable cause is determined two different ways, by way of a grand jury indictment or a preliminary hearing.

During the preliminary hearing the Assistant State’s Attorney put the arresting officer on the stand. The officer testified that he ran the license plate of sports car that JG was driving and saw that the plate came back for a similar sports car of a different year. The officer testified that he that the rear lights did not match the year the license plate said the car was from. He furthered testified that he is a fan of this sports car and knew the difference. The officer testified that he then located the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) and discovered that the car had been reported stolen. Upon cross I only asked a few questions. I asked If JG had made any statements. I asked this because I knew he had, and I knew he had told the officer that he paid for the car. After I was done with my cross examination, I made an argument. I argued that the State’s Attorney failed to establish that the Defendant had any knowledge that the car was stolen. I showed how the only evidence established during the hearing about whether the Defendant knew anything was that he told the officer that he paid for the car. The judge agreed, holding that it is not likely that a person would check the VIN of a car. He ruled in our favor and decided there was no probable cause.