[35 Pa.B. 6991]
[Continued from previous Web Page] Local Rule 1031. Institution of Proceedings in Summary Traffic Cases.
(a) Issued Citations. Scheduling of Summary Trial. Notice To Appear. Service. As authorized by Pa.R.Crim.P. 1031(B), the citation issued to a defendant pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 405 shall contain the date, time and location of the summary trial. As authorized by Pa.R.Crim.P. 451(A), service shall be made by the issuing law enforcement officer who shall hand a copy of the citation containing the Notice to appear to the defendant.
(b) Filed Citations. Scheduling of Summary Trial. Notice To Appear. Service. A citation filed pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 410 et seq. shall contain the date, time and location of the summary trial. Service shall be made as set forth in Pa.R.Crim.P. 451 (B). If the defendant fails to appear for a summary trial scheduled by first class mail, the hearing will be re-scheduled and the defendant shall be served by certified mail or personal service.
(c) Form of the Citation. The citation issued to the Defendant shall be substantially as the form which follows this Local Rule, and as may be otherwise modified from time to time.
(d) Citations Which Do Not Contain A Hearing Date. If a law enforcement officer does not enter the date, time and location on a citation issued pursuant to subsection (a), the court shall schedule the summary trial and send a notice of trial by first class mail to the defendant's last known address.
Comment: Notices mailed to a defendant shall be mailed to the defendant's most current address available to the Traffic Court. The most current address may be the address on record with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, or the address the defendant provided to the law enforcement officer at the time the citation was issued, or the address the defendant has provided to the Traffic Court, whichever is later.
Local Rule 1032. Pleas in Response to Citation. Failure to Timely Plea or Pay the Requisite Collateral.
(a) General Rule. A defendant must enter a plea within ten days after issuance of the citation as required by Pa.R.Crim.P. 407 regardless of whether the citation issued to the defendant contains a summary trial hearing date.
(b) Not Guilty Plea. The defendant may plead not guilty in person at the Traffic Court, on-line through the Court's website, http://courts.phila.gov (click the ''Traffic Court'' link under the section entitled ''Courts of the District''), or by mail by following the instructions contained on the back of the citation. The summary trial will be held on the date assigned pursuant to Local Rule 1031. No additional Notice of Trial shall be required to advise the defendant of the summary trial date unless the summary trial scheduled pursuant to Local Rule 1031 is rescheduled by the Philadelphia Traffic Court.
(c) Guilty Plea.
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (c)(2), the defendant may plead guilty in person at the Traffic Court, on-line through the Court's website, http://courts.phila.gov (click the ''Traffic Court'' link under the section entitled ''Courts of the District''), or by mail by following the instructions contained on the back of the citation.
(2) If the defendant has been cited for violation of 75 Pa.C.S. § 1543 (B), and other violations which require the imposition of a prison sentence upon a guilty plea or adjudication, the defendant may not plead guilty by mail or electronically, and the summary trial will be held as scheduled, unless it is rescheduled by the Court.
(3) Any notice which reschedules a summary trial shall be mailed to the defendant, by first class mail, at the Defendant's last known address. A bench warrant shall be issued if the defendant fails to appear for the summary trial.
(d) Failure to Timely Plea or Post the Requisite Collateral. As required by Pa.R.Crim.P. 430, a warrant for the arrest of a defendant shall be issued if a defendant fails to enter a plea within ten days after the issuance of a citation. Moreover, the defendant's operating privileges may be suspended pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S. § 1033, and a late fee will be assessed, if the defendant fails to file a plea within ten days after issuance of the citation. A written notice of suspension, issuance of arrest warrant, or imposition of late fee shall be sent to the defendant, by first class mail, at the defendant's last known address.
Comment: Notices mailed to a defendant shall be mailed to the defendant's most current address available to the Traffic Court. The most current address may be the address on record with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, or the address the defendant provided to the law enforcement officer at the time the citation was issued, or the address the defendant has provided to the Traffic Court, whichever is later.
Local Rule 1033. Procedures When Defendant Arrested With Warrant.
(a) Defendant Arrested During Traffic Court's Hours of Operation.
(1) A defendant arrested pursuant to a Traffic Court warrant shall be brought to the Traffic Court as soon as practicable after being processed provided the Traffic Court is open.
(2) A warrant hearing shall be conducted promptly by a Traffic Court Judge or hearing officer appointed pursuant to Local Rule 1036 to determine the reasons for the issuance of the warrant, and to determine whether a summary trial or hearing on the matter which resulted in the issuance of the warrant can be held immediately. At the conclusion of the warrant hearing, all outstanding Traffic Court warrants against the Defendant shall be withdrawn.
(i) If it appears that the summary trial or hearing on the matter which resulted in the issuance of the warrant can be held immediately, the summary trial or hearing will be held immediately.
(ii) If it appears that the summary trial or hearing on the matter which resulted in the issuance of the warrant cannot be held immediately, the Traffic Court Judge or hearing officer shall:
(A) Schedule the summary trial or hearing and determine whether collateral must be posted by the defendant to secure defendant's release pending the hearing or summary trial. The Scheduling Orders shall be substantially in the form which follows this Local Rule.
(B) The defendant shall be released unless collateral has been ordered and is not posted.
(C) If the defendant is ordered to post collateral and the collateral is not posted, the defendant shall be brought to the county prison and held pending the summary trial or hearing. Provided, however, that the defendant shall be released at any time before the scheduled summary trial or hearing when the collateral is posted.
(b) Defendant Arrested While Traffic Court is Closed. A defendant arrested pursuant to a Traffic Court warrant while the Traffic Court is closed shall be processed as provided in Philadelphia Municipal Court Rule 540. The Subpoena/Commitment form used by the Municipal Court Bail Commissioner shall be substantially as the form which follows this Local Rule.
Comment Pa.R.Crim.P. 1033, Philadelphia Municipal Court Rule 540, and this Local Rule are intended to provide a warrant hearing process which minimizes the time a defendant is held before a warrant hearing is conducted. However, the very nature of an arrest, the need to properly identify the defendant, and the internal protocol the arresting law enforcement officers need to follow incident to an arrest will, per force, take time. Nonetheless, it is expected that, to the extent possible, the time a defendant is held be minimized. The standard form of the Scheduling Orders is set forth below together with documents which will secure defendant's release when collateral has been ordered and is posted either at the Traffic Court of Bail Acceptance Unit at the Criminal Justice Center, which is open around the clock, every day, including holidays.
Local Rule 1035. Appointment of Counsel.
Counsel shall be provided to Traffic Court defendants who qualify pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 1035 as follows:
(a) Counsel will be appointed by the office of the Traffic Court Administrative Judge on a per diem basis to represent all Traffic Court defendants entitled to court-appointed counsel in connection with Traffic Court summary trials or hearings on the day of counsel's appointment. A separate appointment order, substantially in the form which follows this Local Rule, will be issued concerning each defendant represented by court-appointed counsel.
(b) Court-appointed counsel's appointment terminates at the conclusion of the Traffic Court hearing; however, in the event any defendant represented during such one day appointment is sentenced to a period of incarceration, counsel's appointment will continue for that defendant
until final judgment (including any proceedings upon direct appeal) of such prison sentence.(c) Court-appointed counsel's per diem compensation is $200 for representing Traffic Court defendants at the Traffic Court level regardless of the number of defendants represented on the assigned day.
(d) Compensation for representing a defendant in connection with an appeal to the Court of Common Pleas (regardless of the number of citations issued to the defendant which are being appealed) shall be $200.00.
(e) Court-appointed counsel shall be compensated $300.00 per defendant for appeals to any appellate court from a prison sentence imposed by the Court of Common Pleas.
(f) The appointment of counsel constitutes authority for the defendant to proceed in forma pauperis and authorization to file pleadings without the payment of filing fees.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 05-2399. Filed for public inspection December 30, 2005, 9:00 a.m.]
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