§ 135.175 Discharge

If a defendant goes before a judge for a preliminary hearing, the judge listens to the evidence and any statement the defendant chooses to make. The judge then decides if there's enough proof, called probable cause, to show a crime happened and that this person likely did it.

If the judge doesn't find enough proof, the case gets dismissed right away. The judge will order the defendant to be released, and the charges won't move forward.

This rule protects people from being forced to face a full trial when there isn't even basic evidence connecting them to a crime. It acts as an early check in the system, making sure weak or unsupported cases don't continue.