THE COURTS
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY
Amended/Adopted Criminal Rules of Procedure; AD69-2005
[35 Pa.B. 2870]
Order of Court And Now, this 22nd day of April, 2005, at 4:30 p.m., Schuylkill County Criminal Rules of Procedure Rule 106, Rule 560(f) and Rule 570.1 are amended for use in the Court of Common Pleas of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Twenty-First Judicial District, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, effective thirty (30) days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
The Clerk of Courts of Schuylkill County is Ordered and Directed to do the following:
1) File seven (7) certified copies of this Order and Rules with the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
2) File two (2) certified copies of this Order and Rule with the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin together with a diskette reflecting the text in the hard copy version.
3) File one (1) certified copy of this Order and Rules with the Pennsylvania Criminal Procedural Rules.
4) Forward one (1) copy to the Law Library of Schuylkill County for publication in the Schuylkill Legal Record.
5) Keep continuously available for public inspection copies of this Order and Rule.
It is further Ordered that said rule as it existed prior to the amendment is hereby repealed and annulled on the effective date of said rule as amended, but no right acquired thereunder shall be disturbed.
WILLIAM E. BALDWIN,
President Judge
Schuylkill County Rules of
Criminal ProcedureRule 106 Continuances.
All motions for continuance of trial shall be in writing, upon forms approved by the Court, and served on the opposing party. A motion by the Defendant must be signed by the Defendant and his or her attorney, if any. All such motions shall be heard by the Court each Criminal Term on the date and at the time established by the published Court Calendar.
The Commonwealth must be represented at the hearing for all continuance motions. The presence in Continuance Court of the Defendant and his or her counsel is only required in response to a Commonwealth motion for continuance when the Defendant opposes the motion; however, lack of opposition from the Defendant will not automatically result in the Commonwealth's motion being granted. Their presence may also be excused in Continuance Court for an unopposed first continuance motion by the Defendant. A Defendant's first continuance motion will be deemed unopposed if filed with the Clerk of Courts and contemporaneously served on the Commonwealth before the close of business on the Monday preceding Continuance Court as set forth in the Court Calendar, and if the District Attorney has not notified the Defendant and Court Administrator of the Commonwealth's opposition within 48 hours after receipt of the Defendant's motion. For all later filed, opposed and subsequent continuance motions by the Defendant, defense counsel and the Defendant must be present at the hearing on the motion.
In no event shall a continuance motion be filed and served on the opposing party less than 24 hours prior to Continuance Court.
Rule 560 Information: Filing, Contents, Functions
(f) Murder Cases.--Whenever the District Attorney files a criminal information against a defendant alleging the commission of murder as defined in 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2502, the District Attorney shall contemporaneously forward a copy of the information to the Criminal Court Administrator. Upon receipt of the information, the Court Administrator shall assign the case to a member of the Court and shall notify the Clerk of Courts and counsel for the parties as to which judge the case has been assigned. Thereafter, all pre-trial and trial matters occurring in the case shall be referred to the assigned judge for disposition. That judge shall also set the date for trial independent of the Court Calendar. Either party may at any time request that a trial date be set.
Rule 570.1 Trial Ready Cases/Pre-Trial Conference.
Promptly following the conclusions of a Criminal Term, the Court will attach those cases to be listed for trial during the next succeeding Criminal Term. The Court will generally attach cases to the Trial List based upon the age of the case. Until the day after the date for plea negotiation published in the Court Calendar for that Criminal Term, any party may request a case be added to the Trial List by submitting that request in writing to the Court Administrator and providing a copy of the request to the opposing party. Thereafter, a party may seek the addition of a case to the Trial List only by motion filed with the Clerk of Courts and contemporaneously served on the opposing party. [Note: Cases in which the Commonwealth has charged murder as defined in 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2502 are separately listed pursuant to Sch.R.Crim.P. 560(f)].
Pretrial conferences with a member of the Court shall be conducted at 9:30 a.m. on the pretrial conference date as published in the Court Calendar for all cases remaining on the Trial List by that date. The conference shall be attended by the assigned district attorney and defense counsel. Pro se defendants must also attend. A victim may be present, if the victim desires to attend.
It shall be the duty of each party, prior to the pretrial conference, to verify the availability of all necessary witnesses for trial. The Court may decline to consider scheduling problems and requests which are not brought to the Court's attention at the pretrial conference.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 05-931. Filed for public inspection May 13, 2005, 9:00 a.m.]
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