§ 135.165 Counsel for complainant; district attorney

If you're the alleged victim in a criminal case, you have the right to hire your own lawyer to be present and speak up during the preliminary hearing. This lawyer can represent your interests and appear alongside you at each step of that hearing.

However, your lawyer doesn't run the case. The district attorney, or another attorney working for that office, represents the state of Oregon in the prosecution. The DA's office has the final say on how the case moves forward, what charges are pursued, and how the prosecution is handled overall.

In short, you can have your own legal support at the hearing, but the actual prosecution stays under the control of the district attorney's office, not your private lawyer.