THE COURTS
Title 234--RULES
OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
[234 PA. CODE CH. 5]
Order Amending Rule 550; No. 334 Criminal Procedural Rules; Doc. No. 2
[35 Pa.B. 6894] The Criminal Procedural Rules Committee has prepared a Final Report explaining the December 9, 2005 changes to Rule of Criminal Procedure 550. The changes, which will be effective February 1, 2006, confirm that when jurisdiction in a court case is granted to magisterial district judges, their exercise of this jurisdiction is limited to those cases in which the defendant pleads guilty. The Final Report follows the Court's Order.
Order Per Curiam:
Now, this 9th day of December, 2005, upon the recommendation of the Criminal Procedural Rules Committee; the proposal having been published before adoption at 35 Pa.B. 2865 (May 14, 2005), and a Final Report to be published with this Order:
It Is Ordered pursuant to Article V, Section 10 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania that Rule of Criminal Procedure 550 is amended in the following form.
This Order shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. 103(b), and shall be effective February 1, 2006.
Annex A
TITLE 234. RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CHAPTER 5. PRETRIAL PROCEDURES IN
COURT CASES
PART D. Proceedings in Court Cases Before
Issuing AuthoritiesRule 550. Pleas of Guilty Before [District Justice] Magisterial District Judge in Court Cases.
(A) In a court case in which a [district justice] magisterial district judge is specifically empowered by statute to exercise jurisdiction, a defendant may plead guilty before [an issuing authority] a magisterial district judge at any time up to the completion of the preliminary hearing or the waiver thereof.
(B) The [district justice] magisterial district judge may refuse to accept a plea of guilty, and the [district justice] magisterial district judge shall not accept such plea unless there has been a determination, after inquiry of the defendant, that the plea is voluntarily and understandingly tendered.
(C) The plea shall be in writing:
* * * * * (2) signed by the [district justice] magisterial district judge, with a certification that the plea was accepted after a full inquiry of the defendant, and that the plea was made knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently.
(D) A defendant who enters a plea of guilty under this rule may, within 10 days after sentence, change the plea to not guilty by so notifying the [district justice] magisterial district judge in writing. In such event, the [district justice] magisterial district judge shall vacate the plea and judgment of sentence, and the case shall proceed in accordance with Rule 547, as though the defendant had been held for court.
(E) Ten days after the acceptance of the guilty plea and the imposition of sentence, the [district justice] magisterial district judge shall certify the judgment, and shall forward the case to the clerk of courts of the judicial district for further proceedings.
Comment In certain cases, [provisions for taking a plea of guilty in] what would ordinarily be a court case within the jurisdiction of the court of common pleas [have] has been placed within the jurisdiction of [district justices] magisterial district judges. See Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 1515(a)(5), (5.1), (6), (6.1), and (7). This rule provides the procedures to implement this expanded jurisdiction of [district justices to accept pleas of guilty under certain circumstances in certain specified misdemeanors] magisterial district judges. [See Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 1515(a)(5), (6), (6.1), and (7).]
In those cases in which either the defendant declines to enter a plea of guilty before the magisterial district judge or the magisterial district judge refuses to accept a plea of guilty, the case is to proceed in the same manner as any other court case.
This rule applies whenever a [district justice] magisterial district judge has jurisdiction to accept a plea of guilty in a court case.
* * * * * Prior to accepting a plea of guilty under this rule, it is suggested that the [district justice] magisterial district judge consult with the attorney for the Commonwealth concerning the case, concerning the defendant's possible eligibility for ARD or other types of diversion, and concerning possible related offenses [which] that might be charged in the same complaint. See Commonwealth v. Campana, 452 Pa. 233, 304 A.2d 432 ([Pa.] 1973), vacated and remanded, 414 U.S. 808 (1973), on remand, 455 Pa. 622, 314 A.2d 854 (1974).
Before accepting a plea:
(a) The [district justice] magisterial district judge should be satisfied of jurisdiction to accept the plea, and should determine whether any other related offenses exist [which] that might affect jurisdiction.
(b) The [district justice] magisterial district judge should be satisfied that the defendant is eligible under the law to plead guilty before a [district justice] magisterial district judge, and, when relevant, should check the defendant's prior record and inquire into the amount of damages.
(c) The [district justice] magisterial district judge should advise the defendant of the right to counsel. For purposes of appointment of counsel, these cases should be treated as court cases, and the Rule 122 ([Assignment] Appointment of Counsel) procedures should be followed.
(d) The [district justice] magisterial district judge should advise the defendant that, if the defendant wants to change the plea to not guilty, the defendant, within 10 days after imposition of sentence, must notify the [district justice] magisterial district judge who accepted the plea of this decision in writing.
(e) The [district justice] magisterial district judge should make a searching inquiry into the voluntariness of the defendant's plea. A colloquy similar to that suggested in Rule 590 should be conducted to determine the voluntariness of the plea. At a minimum, the [district justice] magisterial district judge should ask questions to elicit the following information:
* * * * * (6) that the defendant is aware that the [district justice] magisterial district judge is not bound by the terms of any plea agreement tendered unless the [district justice] magisterial district judge accepts such agreement; and
* * * * * See Rule 590 and the Comment thereto for further elaboration of the required colloquy. See also Commonwealth v. Minor, 467 Pa. 230, 356 A.2d 346 ([Pa.] 1976), overruled on other grounds in Commonwealth v. Minarik, 493 Pa. 573, 427 A.2d 623, 627 ([Pa.] 1981); Commonwealth v. Ingram, 455 Pa. 198, 316 A.2d 77 ([Pa.] 1974); Commonwealth v. Martin, 445 Pa. 49, 282 A.2d 241 ([Pa.] 1971).
* * * * * At the time of sentencing, or at any time within the 10-day period before transmitting the case to the clerk of courts pursuant to paragraph (E), the [district justice] magisterial district judge may accept payment of, or may establish a payment schedule for, installment payments of restitution, fines, and costs.
If a plea is not entered pursuant to this rule, the papers must be transmitted to the clerk of courts of the judicial district in accordance with Rule 547. After the time set forth in paragraph (A) for acceptance of the plea of guilty has expired, the [district justice] magisterial district judge no longer has jurisdiction to accept a plea.
Regardless of whether a plea stands or is timely changed to not guilty by the defendant, the [district justice] magisterial district judge must transmit the transcript and all supporting documents to the appropriate court, in accordance with Rule 547.
Once the case is forwarded as provided in this rule and in Rule 547, the court of common pleas has exclusive jurisdiction over the case and any plea incident thereto. The case would thereafter proceed in the same manner as any other court case, which would include, for example, the collection of restitution, fines, and costs; the establishment of time payments; and the supervision of probation in those cases in which the [district justice] magisterial district judge has accepted a guilty plea and imposed sentence.
Official Note: Rule 149 adopted June 30, 1977, effective September 1, 1977; Comment revised January 28, 1983, effective July 1, 1983; amended November 9, 1984, effective January 2, 1985; amended August 22, 1997, effective January 1, 1998; renumbered Rule 550 and amended March 1, 2000, effective April 1, 2001; amended December 9, 2005, effective February 1, 2006.
Committee Explanatory Reports:
* * * * * Final Report explaining the December 9, 2005 changes to the rule clarifying the magisterial district judges' exercise of jurisdiction published with the Court's Order at 35 Pa.B. 6896 (December 24, 2005).
FINAL REPORT1
Amendments to Pa.R.Crim.P. 550
Pleas of Guilty Before Magisterial District Judge in Court Cases During the course of Committee's ongoing monitoring of new legislation and the legislation's interplay with the Criminal Rules, we reviewed Act No. 2004-177 that, inter alia, amends 42 Pa.C.S. § 1515 to provide magisterial district judges with jurisdiction over offenses under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3808 (relating to illegally operating a motor vehicle not equipped with ignition interlock) and increases the penalty level of Section 3808(a)(1) from a summary offense to a misdemeanor. This addition, unlike previous jurisdictional expansions, did not limit the magisterial district judges' jurisdiction to acceptance of guilty pleas in these cases. The broader scope of the jurisdiction is problematic from a procedural perspective because of the nature of proceedings before the magisterial district judges, which currently are not courts of record and are non-jury.
The Committee, during our discussions of this addition to the magisterial district judges' jurisdiction, noted the Legislature has consistently limited any grant of jurisdiction to magisterial district judges in a court case to the situation in which the defendant intends to enter a plea of guilty, suggesting the Legislature's understanding of the procedural difficulties that would arise should trials in these cases be conducted at the magisterial district court level. In view of these considerations, the Committee agreed Rule 550 should continue to provide that the procedures for the magisterial district judges' exercise of their jurisdiction under 42 Pa.C.S. § 1515(a)(5), (5.1), (6), (6.1), and (7) are limited to the acceptance of guilty pleas. This limitation continues the expedited disposition of many of these cases by the magisterial district judges, while protecting the defendants' rights by providing them with the opportunity for a full trial in the court of common pleas. Accordingly, the Court approved the Committee's proposal to revise the Comment to Rule 550 to clarify that, under the rules, the magisterial district judges' exercise of their statutorily granted jurisdiction over misdemeanors continues to be restricted to acceptance of guilty pleas.
Rule 550(A) limits exercise of jurisdiction by a magisterial district judge to the acceptance of a guilty plea. Because the language of the first paragraph of the Comment may create the impression of unduly limiting the application of the rule, the revision removes the qualifying language ''provisions for taking a plea of guilty'' and explains that the rule applies to any statute that grants court case jurisdiction to magisterial district judges. The same paragraph also is revised to include a reference to new paragraph 5.1 of Section 1515 in the list of the sections providing the magisterial district judges with jurisdiction over certain misdemeanors that are cross-referenced in the Rule 550 Comment.
A new second paragraph is added to the Comment clarifying that in the event that a defendant declines to enter a guilty plea or a magisterial district judge refuses to accept a guilty plea, the case would go forward in the court of common pleas.
Additionally, pursuant to Act 207 of 2004 and the Order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 269 Judicial Administrative Docket No. 1 (January 6, 2005), the term ''district justice'' is replaced by ''magisterial district judge'' throughout the rule and Comment.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 05-2364. Filed for public inspection December 23, 2005, 9:00 a.m.] _______
1 The Committee's Final Reports should not be confused with the official Committee Comments to the rules. Also note that the Supreme Court does not adopt the Committee's Comments or the contents of the Committee's explanatory Final Reports.
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