Commonwealth v. Finfrock
Commonwealth v. Finfrock
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal by the Commonwealth from the lower court’s order dismissing with prejudice charges against the appellee because of the Commonwealth’s alleged violation of Pa.R.Crim.P. 1100(a)(2).
On September 18, 1975, a complaint was lodged against appellee charging him with possession with intent to deliver and delivery of a controlled substance,
On June 1, 1976, appellee filed a motion to dismiss the second complaint for the Commonwealth’s failure to comply with Pa.R.Crim.P. 1100. A hearing was held, after which the court below granted the motion. The court reasoned that the 180 day period began to run from the filing of the first complaint.
We find the instant case to be controlled by Commonwealth v. Mumich, 239 Pa.Super. 209, 361 A.2d 359 (1976), wherein we held that Rule 1100 did not begin to run from the filing of the first defective complaint, later dismissed, but rather from the filing of the second complaint. In the instant case, the Commonwealth had from March 23,1976, to September 20, 1976, to bring appellee to trial. The court below therefore improperly dismissed the charges against appellee.
The order of the lower court is reversed and the case is remanded for trial.
. Pa.R.Crim.P. 1100(a)(2) provides: “Trial in a court case in which a written complaint is filed against the defendant after June 30, 1974 shall commence no later than one hundred eighty (180) days from the date on which the complaint is filed.”
. Act of April 14, 1972, P.L. 233, No. 64, § 13(a)(30), as amended (35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(30)).
Concurring Opinion
concurring:
I concur in the majority’s conclusion, but I reach it by different reasoning.
-1-
This case should have been tried on March 15, 1976 — the 179th day. It could not be because the prosecutor had not
In extending the period the court exceeded its authority; an extension may be granted only on petition. Commonwealth v. Shelton, supra, Commonwealth v. O’Shea, 465 Pa. 491, 496, 350 A.2d 872, 874 (1976). Therefore, when the case was called for trial, on March 23, what defense counsel should have done was file a motion to dismiss for denial of a speedy trial. Pa.R.Crim.P. 1100(f). I do not see how he could have lost that motion; if he lost below, he should win later on appeal: the 180 day period had run, with no extension having been properly granted, and with no exclusion being warranted since (as has been stipulated) appellant had not been unavailable. Commonwealth v. O’Shea, supra at 498 n. 9, 350 A.2d at 875 n. 9; Pa.R.Crim.P. 1100(d). See N.T. 9/28/76 5-6.
Instead of filing a motion to dismiss for denial of a speedy trial, counsel moved to quash the indictment. It was a silly motion, based on the fact that “methamphetamine” was misspelled as “meteamphetamine,” and the lower court either should have denied it outright, or should at least have granted the prosecutor’s responsive motion to amend the indictment by correcting the spelling. Commonwealth v. Richey, 249 Pa. Super. 365, 378 A.2d 338 (1977); Commonwealth v. Jones, 250 Pa.Super. 236, 378 A.2d 914 (1977); Commonwealth v. Walters, 250 Pa.Super. 392, 378 A.2d 993 (1977). However, the court quashed the indictment.
-2-
The lower court appears to have been of the opinion that the filing of the second complaint was an impermissible attempt by the prosecutor to extend (or evade) the 180 day period. See lower court slip opinion at 2. In a general way I have some sympathy with this opinion. Thus in other cases I have said that we should compute the 180 day period from the date the first complaint is filed. Commonwealth v. Braithwaite, 253 Pa.Super. 447, 385 A.2d 423 (dissenting opinion) (1978); Commonwealth v. Garbett, 256 Pa.Super. 478, 390 A.2d 208 (1978). And see Commonwealth v. Earp, 476 Pa. 369, 382 A.2d 1215 (1978). However, the reason for thus computing the period is to ensure that the prosecutor will not be able to stall a case, and evade Rule 1100, by withdrawing a prosecution started long ago, and starting another one. Cf. Commonwealth v. Whitaker, 467 Pa. 436, 359 A.2d 174 (1976). Here the prosecutor engaged in no such conduct. To the contrary, far from withdrawing the prosecution, the prosecutor tried to preserve it by resisting defense counsel’s motion to quash the indictment, asking the court instead to permit an amendment to correct the misspelling. Given this fact, cases such as Braithwaite and Garbett are no help. Neither is Commonwealth v. Mumich, 239 Pa.Super. 209, 361 A.2d 359 (1976), which is the only case cited by the majority, for there the first complaint was defective; here it wasn’t.
-3-
In seeking a basis of decision I have found myself thinking a bit about the nature of a lawsuit.
We do not like to acknowledge that sometimes the trial of a lawsuit is a game, played by tricky rules. A trial shouldn’t be a game, for a game is a diversion, an activity engaged in
That is what happened here. When counsel filed his motion to quash the indictment, he was playing a game. There was no lack of notice in the indictment; counsel and his client both knew precisely what the charge was. The only basis for the motion was the off chance that the court might wrongly grant it. If, however, one seeks to win by chance, one had better calculate the chances very carefully. Here, counsel didn’t; he failed to anticipate, or to realize, that if he won the motion to quash he might lose the ability to pursue the Rule 1100 argument. Here, I believe, as does the majority, that counsel did lose that ability.
To be sure, we might construe the rules very broadly, in counsel’s favor, as in effect the lower court did; but I think that would be unfair to the Commonwealth. It would amount to saying that with respect to the motion to quash, counsel could play a game with the rules, exacting of the
I therefore agree with the majority that the order of the lower court should be reversed, and the second prosecution be remanded for trial.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. Timothy FINFROCK, Appellee
- Cited By
- 11 cases
- Status
- Published