Commonwealth v. Meadius

Justice EAKIN,

dissenting.

My colleagues accept appellant’s contention that his rights were violated because he was not tried within a year of the “initial complaint,” not the existent complaint. As there is no authority in Rule 600 for calculating from a nonexistent complaint, I must respectfully dissent.

Rule 600 deals with “the” complaint, and there is but one complaint in this case. It was filed March 27, 2001, not in January of that year; the prior complaint had been withdrawn and formed no part of the present proceedings. The rule does not mention or give vitality to initial, subsequent, previous, last or latest complaints. It states the complaint, which necessarily means the complaint to which appellant finds himself susceptible. The instant charges were brought by the instant complaint. Appellant waived the preliminary hearing on the charges brought in the March complaint. It is the ongoing complaint which instituted the charges that appellant moved to dismiss. This complaint is the only one relevant to any calculation or motion under our rules.

Rule 600 does not speak to, much less require, a due diligence inquiry unless and until the deadline (created by filing the existent complaint) has elapsed and a defendant files a motion to dismiss the charges (created by filing the existent complaint). An inquiry into due diligence is not authorized by the rule where, as here, 365 days from the complaint’s filing did not elapse. Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure 600(G) states: “For defendants on bail after the expiration of 365 days” the motion is available. Id. (emphasis added). 365 days from what? From “the date on which the complaint is filed.” Id., 600(A). This motion is not available by counting from the filing of a withdrawn and nugatory complaint—by the very language of Rule 600, an irrelevant date cannot affect the time for the dismissal motion or the subsequent due diligence examination.

[W]here the record does not show that the Commonwealth’s termination of the prosecution was designed to manipulate or evade the requirements of Rule [600], the time for computing the speedy trial period runs from the date of the latter complaint.

Commonwealth v. Whiting, 509 Pa. 20, 500 A.2d 806, 808 (1985). The latter complaint is the only complaint in the contemplation of the rule.

Simply put, when this motion was filed in January, 2002, appellant was not a defendant “on bail after the expiration of 365 days” and he was not authorized by Rule 600 to move for dismissal on grounds of its violation. Appellant’s motion to dismiss was premature and cannot be the basis for the relief he seeks, much less the new jurisprudence announced by my colleagues.

The majority’s concerns about potential abuse of Rule 600 by serial filings are legitimate. Clearly, governmental actions preceding the relevant complaint may trigger constitutional considerations that warrant relief,¹ but such relief is not within the contemplation of Rule 600 itself. Other grounds for relief may exist based on inaction before trial, but relief for violation of Rule 600 is confined to the specific relief set forth in Rule 600 itself.

Further, there was no scenario of abuse here, nor have we faced a spate of cases alleging such abuse. This prosecutor tried numerous times to secure the presence of his witnesses, and withdrew the first complaint when warned by the district justice that dismissal was imminent; he refiled charges five days later. The trial court acknowledged this promptitude, commenting: “It’s not like [the prosecutor] came here on the 364th day.” N.T. Rule 600 Hearing, 2/4/02, at 12. Even if the matter could have been expedited, this clearly was not an effort to harass or prejudice the accused, and the withdrawal and refiling clearly was not done to avoid Rule 600.

Diligence and expeditious scheduling is the mandate of the rule to be sure, but court and counsel must know what the true run date is so they may schedule accordingly. Calculating from the date on the complaint is clear, but under the analysis of my colleagues, courts and counsel must now calculate and schedule based on an uncertain or unknown date of a complaint long withdrawn and not part of the record.

To make the calculation from a dismissed filing, as my colleagues do, is not proper under the clear language of the rule. It is not warranted by a need to close loopholes in the existing caselaw, nor is there evidence of abuse of the rule’s purpose in this case or in general. The result creates needless uncertainty in application. This Court’s current pronouncements of Rule 600’s requirements for refiled complaints are plain, curtail abuse, and provide relief when the rule is violated.

The majority, while positing a thoughtful analysis, does not follow the express language of Rule 600, resulting in complication of a calculation that was otherwise sure and simple, without appreciable benefit to court, counsel, or accused. In short, the majority is fixing something that is not broken. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.

Justice CASTILLE and Justice NEWMAN join.

1 . For example, the “Sires rule” precludes prosecutorial tactics designed to circumvent the rule. Likewise, repeated arrests designed to harass, or which prejudice the accused will not be tolerated. See Comment to Pa.R.Crim.P 544, and cases cited therein.