In what circumstances will a police officer be allowed to testify to hearsay statements at a preliminary hearing?

The function of a preliminary hearing is to determine whether there is probable cause to hold the accused for trial. (Whitman v. Superior Court, supra, 54 Cal.3d at pp. 1080-1081, 2 Cal.Rptr.2d 160, 820 P.2d 262.) Proposition 115 added provisions to the Penal Code, the Evidence Code, and the Constitution, making major changes in the conduct of preliminary hearings. Under the new procedure, which has withstood constitutional challenge, an officer may testify to hearsay statements if he or she has "sufficient knowledge of the crime or the circumstances under which the out-of-court statement was made so as to meaningfully assist the magistrate in assessing the reliability of the statement." (Id. at pp. 1072-1073, 2 Cal.Rptr.2d 160, 820 P.2d 262.)