request for bill of particulars pennsylvania

REQUEST FOR BILL OF PARTICULARS PENNSYLVANIA TRIAL

In this case the court felt that the only relief that it could afford the defendant for the Commonwealth's failure to provide the Bill of Particulars was to dismiss the indictment. Thus, the filing for the application for relief six (6) days after appellee filed his Request for Bill of Particulars upon the Commonwealth was in no way unreasonable.įinally, we must also note that Section (c) of the rule in question states that the court may take whatever action 'it deems necessary in the interests of justice' when an application for relief is made by a defendant in circumstances such as this one. This is so because had the appellee not filed his application for relief within the ten (10) day period he may have been precluded from so doing to the prejudice of his client's interests.

Therefore, we cannot determine that the appellee's actions in filing the request were tantamount to a 'snap judgment' situation wherein a matter of procedure determines a case rather than a matter of substance. Section (b) of the rule also plays an important part in the determination of this issue since, under it, the appellee was required to file any application for relief within ten (10) days after service of his request for a bill of particulars upon the Commonwealth. Imperative that appellee's counsel be provided with the information in the bill so that he could prepare his case.

REQUEST FOR BILL OF PARTICULARS PENNSYLVANIA TRIAL

We also recognize that appellee's trial was scheduled for February 7, 1974, and thus it was It should be noted that in the instant case the appellee did not present his motion requesting dismissal of the indictment to the court until Januwhich was six (6) days after he had filed his request for it. The Commonwealth argues that the two-day time period in which it had to provide the bill of particulars under the rule is unreasonable and that the word 'should', set forth in Section (a) of the rule, can be interpreted in such a way so as to provide the Commonwealth additional time to file the bill if the circumstances warrant such additional time. '(b) Upon failure of the attorney for the Commonwealth to furnish a bill of particulars after service of a request upon him, the defendant may make written application for relief to the court within ten (10) days after such service.' '(a) A bill of particulars should be furnished by the attorney for the Commonwealth within two (2) days after service upon him of a copy of a written request by a defendant. Rule 221 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure provides in part that: We might also point out that had the appeal not been taken within thirty (30) days of the original order we would be required to hold that it was not timely filed.

While the appellee is correct in his assertion that the Commonwealth should have appealed the JanuOrder we will allow the appeal since the appeal was taken within thirty (30) days of the original order.

The appellee claims that since the Commonwealth appealed from the Order of Februrather than the original order of January 31, 1974, we should refrain from considering the appeal since an appeal from the JanuOrder was not taken within thirty (30) days. The Commonwealth then appealedįrom the order of Februdenying the petition to vacate the dismissal of the indictments. The Commonwealth's petition was denied on February 6, 1974. The Commonwealth then petitioned the court to vacate its dismissal of the indictment which it refused to do after a hearing. After a hearing the court granted the appellee's motion and the indictment was dismissed. On January 31, 1974, the appellee moved to dismiss the indictments due to the Commonwealth's failure to furnish the Bill of Particulars. On January 25, 1974, he filed and served on the Commonwealth a Request for a Bill of Particulars. The appellee was scheduled for trial on February 7, 1974. This is an appeal by the Commonwealth from an order of the Court of Common Pleas, Criminal Division, of Allegheny County, dismissing a four count bill of indictment for violation of The Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act because of the failure of the Commonwealth to provide a bill of particulars to the defendant-appellee within the time limit provided in Rule 221 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Request for bill of particulars pennsylvania