THE COURTS
Title 234—RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
[ 234 PA. CODE CH. 10 ]
Order Amending Rule 1010 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure; No. 403 Criminal Procedural Rules Doc.
[41 Pa.B. 5353]
[Saturday, October 8, 2011]
Order Per Curiam
And Now, this 21st day of September, 2011, upon the recommendation of the Criminal Procedural Rules Committee; the proposal having been published before adoption at 40 Pa.B. 4150 (July 24, 2010), and in the Atlantic Reporter (Second Series Advance Sheets, Vol. 995 No. 3 and 996 No. 1), 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 Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 1010 is amended in the following form.
This Order shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. No. 103(b), and shall be effective November 1, 2011.
Annex A
TITLE 234. RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CHAPTER 10. RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE FOR THE PHILADELPHIA MUNICIPAL COURT AND THE PHILADELPHIA TRAFFIC COURT
PART A. Philadelphia Municipal Court Procedures Rule 1010. [Procedure on Appeal] Procedures for Trial De Novo.
(A) [The attorney for the Commonwealth, upon receiving the notice of appeal, shall prepare an information and the matter shall thereafter be treated in the same manner as any other court case.] When a defendant appeals after conviction by a Municipal Court judge,
(1) in a non-traffic summary case, upon the filing of the transcript and other papers, the case shall be heard de novo by the judge of the Court of Common Pleas sitting without a jury.
(2) In a Municipal Court case, the attorney for the Commonwealth, upon receiving the notice of appeal, shall prepare an information and the matter shall thereafter be treated in the same manner as any other court case.
(B) If the defendant fails to appear for the trial de novo, the Common Pleas Court judge may dismiss the appeal and thereafter shall enter judgment in the Court of Common Pleas on the judgment of the Municipal Court judge.
(C) Withdrawals of Appeals
(1) If the defendant withdraws the appeal, the Common Pleas Court judge shall enter judgment in the Court of Common Pleas on the judgment of the Municipal Court judge.
(2) In a Municipal Court case, the defendant may withdraw the appeal only with the written consent of the attorney for the Commonwealth.
(D) At the time of sentencing, the Common Pleas Court judge shall:
(1) if the defendant's sentence includes restitution, a fine, or costs, state the date on which payment is due. If the defendant is without the financial means to pay the amount in a single remittance, the Common Pleas Court judge may provide for installment payments and shall state the date on which each installment is due;
(2) advise the defendant of the right to appeal to the Superior Court within 30 days of the imposition of sentence, and that, if an appeal is filed, the execution of sentence will be stayed and the Common Pleas Court judge may set bail;
(3) if a sentence of imprisonment has been imposed, direct the defendant to appear for the execution of sentence on a date certain unless the defendant files a notice of appeal within the 30-day period; and
(4) issue a written order imposing sentence, signed by the Common Pleas Court judge. The order shall include the information specified in paragraphs (D)(1) through (D)(3), and a copy of the order shall be given to the defendant.
(E) After entry of judgment pursuant to paragraphs (B) or (C)(1), or after the trial de novo and imposition of sentence, the case shall remain in the Court of Common Pleas for the execution of sentence, including for the collection of any fines and restitution, for the collection of any costs, and for proceedings for violation of probation, intermediate punishment, or parole pursuant to Rule 708.
Comment In any case in which there are summary offenses joined with the misdemeanor charges that are the subject of the appeal, the attorney for the Commonwealth must include the summary offenses in the information. See Commonwealth v. Speller, 311 Pa. Super. 569, 458 A.2d 198 (1983).
Paragraph (B) makes it clear that the Common Pleas Court judge may dismiss an appeal when the judge determines that the defendant is absent without cause from the trial de novo. If the appeal is dismissed, the Common Pleas Court judge must enter judgment and order execution of any sentence imposed by the Municipal Court judge. Nothing in this rule is intended to preclude the judge from issuing a bench warrant when the defendant fails to appear.
Once a judgment is entered and sentence is imposed, paragraph (E) makes it clear that the case is to remain in the Court of Common Pleas for execution of the sentence and collection of any costs, and the case may not be returned to the Municipal Court judge. The execution of sentence includes the collection of any fines and restitution and any proceedings for violation of probation, intermediate punishment, or parole as provided by Rule 708.
Official Note: Rule 6010 adopted December 30, 1968, effective January 1, 1969; amended July 1, 1980, effective August 1, 1980; amended August 28, 1998, effective immediately; renumbered Rule 1010 March 1, 2000, effective April 1, 2001; Comment revised March 9, 2006, effective September 1, 2006; amended February 12, 2010, effective April 1, 2010; amended September 21, 2011, effective November 1, 2011.
Committee Explanatory Reports:
Final Report explaining the August 28, 1998 amendment published with the Court's Order at 28 Pa.B. [4625] 4627 (September 12, 1998).
Final Report explaining the March 1, 2000 reorganization and renumbering of the rules published with the Court's Order at 30 Pa.B. [1477] 1478 (March 18, 2000).
Final Report explaining the March [3] 9, 2006 Comment revision concerning joinder of summary offenses with misdemeanor charges published with the Court's Order at 36 Pa.B. 1385 (March 25, 2006).
Final Report explaining the February 12, 2010 amendments to paragraph (B) concerning the disposition of summary offenses at the court of common pleas published with the Court's Order at 40 Pa.B. 1068 (February 27, 2010).
Final Report explaining the September 21, 2011 amendments to paragraphs (A)—(C) and adding new paragraphs (D) and (E) concerning the procedures for trials de novo in the Court of Common Pleas published with the Court's Order at 41 Pa.B. 5353 (October 8, 2011).
FINAL REPORT1
Amendments to Rule 1010 (Procedures for Trial De Novo)
Procedures for Trials De Novo in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas On September 21, 2011, effective November 1, 2011, upon the recommendation of the Criminal Procedural Rules Committee, the Court amended Pa.R.Cim.P. 1010 to provide the procedures for appeals for trials de novo in non-traffic summary cases and in Municipal Court cases in Philadelphia, conforming these procedures with the statewide procedures for appeals for trials de novo.
The Municipal Court handles both non-traffic summary cases and Municipal Court cases (''misdemeanor cases'').2 Appeals for a trial de novo from the disposition of the non-traffic summary and misdemeanor cases in the Municipal Court are conducted in the Court of Common Pleas.3 The amendments to Rule of Criminal Procedure 1010 (Procedures for Trial De Novo) provide the procedures for appeals from Philadelphia Municipal Court to Philadelphia Common Pleas Court for trials de novo in non-traffic summary cases and misdemeanor cases. These changes conform the procedures for appeals from Philadelphia Municipal Court for trials de novo to the statewide procedures for appeals for trials de novo.
I. Background
The impetus for the Committee's proposal was communications from the legal department of the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) in 2009 about appeals for trials de novo in Philadelphia suggesting that, because there are no rules setting forth the procedures for appealing for a trial de novo from Philadelphia Municipal Court to the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, there is little uniformity in how these appeals for a trial de novo are handled.4
The Committee reviewed the statewide procedures for the trial de novo set forth in Rule 462 and the appeal procedures in Municipal Court set forth in Rule 1010.5 The Rule 462 procedures for conducting appeals for trials de novo in the other judicial districts govern appeals from both traffic and non-traffic summary cases. Rule 1010 at that time provided only that an information is to be prepared after an appeal is filed.6 The Committee agreed that this limited application of Rule 1010 was the cause of the confusion about the appeal procedures in Municipal Court7 , and that Rule 1010 should be amended to clarify these procedures.
II. Discussion of Proposed Rule 1010 Amendments8
Paragraph (A)(1) is identical to Rule 462(A) and provides that, in non-traffic summary cases, the case is to be heard de novo by a Common Pleas Court judge sitting without a jury. Paragraph (A)(2) addresses misdemeanor cases, and incorporates the current language from Rule 1010 requiring the preparation of the information by the attorney for the Commonwealth, and that, thereafter, the case is to be treated in the same manner as any other court case.
Paragraph (B) addresses failures to appear for the trial de novo in both non-traffic summary cases and in misdemeanor cases. The paragraph was amended by the addition of ''thereafter shall'' before ''enter judgment.'' This change makes it clear in the rule that in cases in which an appeal is dismissed for failure to appear, the Common Pleas Court judge must enter judgment in the Court of Common Pleas on the judgment of the Municipal Court judge. The Comment elaborates on this provision. The Comment also explains that the rule does not preclude the Common Pleas Court judge from issuing a bench warrant in these cases. The Committee recognized that, although paragraph (B) provides that the case may be disposed by the Common Pleas Court judge entering judgment on the judgment of the Municipal Court judge, there may be situations in which it is necessary to issue a bench warrant to bring the defendant before the court, such as when the Municipal Court judgment included a sentence of imprisonment.
Paragraph (C) addresses withdrawals of appeals in both non-traffic summary cases and in misdemeanor cases. Paragraph (C) was divided into two subparagraphs with current paragraph (C) becoming (C)(1). Paragraph (C)(2) is new and adds the requirement in misdemeanor cases that to withdraw an appeal in these cases, the defendant must obtain the written consent of the attorney for the Commonwealth. This requirement was added because in the misdemeanor cases the attorney for the Commonwealth, for example, will have to file a motion with the court for permission to nolle prosequi the informations.
Paragraph (D) is identical to Rule 462(G). The paragraph sets forth the Common Pleas Court judge's responsibilities at the time of sentencing, including issuing a written order imposing the sentence. The judge also must state the date on which payment of any fines, costs, and restitution must be paid, and that the judge may provide for payment in installments. Finally, the judge is required to advise the defendant of his or her appeal rights.
Paragraph (E) incorporates the provisions of Rule 462(H), and requires that any case in which the Common Pleas judge enters the Municipal Court judgment in Common Pleas court or imposes sentence following a trial de novo must remain in the Common Pleas Court for the execution of sentence and collection of any fines, restitution, and costs. In addition, to accommodate the misdemeanor cases, paragraph (E) provides that the case must remain in Common Pleas Court for any proceedings for violation of probation, intermediate punishment, or parole pursuant to Rule 708.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 11-1721. Filed for public inspection October 7, 2011, 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.
2 A ''Municipal Court Case'' is any case in which the only offense or offenses charged are misdemeanors under the Crimes Code or other statutory criminal offenses for which no prison term may be imposed or which is punishable by a term of imprisonment of not more than 5 years, including any offense under the Vehicle Code other than a summary offense. See Rule 1001(A).
3 Pursuant to Article V, Section 26 of the Constitution, the parties may petition for a writ of certiorari (only in misdemeanor cases) or may appeal for a trial de novo. See Rule 1008 (Contents of Notice of Appeal or Petition for Certiorari).
4 The February 2010 amendments to Rule 1010 that were part of a package of rule amendments that addressed the issue of returning cases to Municipal Court are the same as the procedures in Rule 462(D) and (E) but govern Municipal Court cases. These changes however did not fully respond to the issues raised by the AOPC.
5 In Philadelphia, the procedures for appeals in traffic summary cases are governed by Rule 1037.
6 Paragraph (B), governing failures to appear for a trial de novo, and Paragraph (C), governing withdrawals of appeals, were added to Rule 1010 in 2010 as part of a larger package of amendments to the statewide rules. See 40 Pa.B. 1068.
7 See Rule 1000(B) that provides ''[a]ny procedure that is governed by a statewide Rule of Criminal Procedure that is not specifically covered in Chapter 10 or by a Philadelphia local rule authorized by these rules and adopted pursuant to Rule 105 shall be governed by the relevant statewide rule.''
8 Unless specifically provided otherwise in the amendments to Rule 1010, the procedures explained in the ''discussion'' section are the same for the non-traffic summary appeals and the appeals in misdemeanor cases.
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