ALLEGHENY & HIGH
An occasional column about the Centre County Courts by Reliable Sources [1]
Unraveling The Mystery Of Criminal Court Scheduling
Two lawyers sit in the Bellefonte Bakery over cups of coffee, a lawyer new to town and an experienced criminal lawyer.
Bob: Mary, can you give me some advice on how to move my case through the Centre County Criminal System?
Mary: Sure, Bob. It only seems complicated because there are no published local Rules. But we have a clear tradition which is very user friendly. In our county, we use a Acentral court@ system and all Preliminary Hearings are heard on Wednesdays at the Courthouse in Bellefonte. At the Preliminary Hearing you and your client receive a document called, an Important Notice. That is the only notice you'll get from the Court of your upcoming Court days.
Bob: You mean the notice that gives the arraignment date, the pre-trial conference date and the jury selection date?
Mary: Yes, Bob, but most lawyers waive the arraignment date. That, for most cases is just a Apaper date.” The first date that attorneys and clients need to actually appear for is the pre-trial conference.
Bob: Mary, what happens at a criminal pre-trial conference?
Mary: Well, Bob, the purpose of the pre-trial conference is to determine the status of the case. Unlike civil cases, the Court does not get involved in settlement discussions. The judge will ask each lawyer if the case is ready for trial and if so, how many witnesses, how many exhibits and any unusual issues. Each lawyer reports to the court and the judge then orders the case be marked down for trial. That's what happens in the courtroom.
Bob: Is there something behind the scenes that's more important?
Mary: Yes. The tentative scheduling of your case happens when Cheryl Spotts, the Criminal Coordinator, looks at her calendar and reviews the available trial dates.
Bob: How does she decide what case gets scheduled?
Mary: It's a complicated process, but she does a great job. In Centre County we pick juries every other month, or six times a year in February, April, June, August, October and December. Civil juries are picked four times a year in February, April, June and October with no civil selection in August or December.
Bob: In other words, there are ten jury selection days in a calendar year.
Mary: That's right, and criminal cases will now be picked on civil jury days.
Bob: Is that enough for a county our size?
Mary: It is under normal circumstances. When we have situations like the recent student disturbances and the many trials that they generated, it does strain the system. The problem is not so much having jury selection days as it is having judge days to hear the jury cases once the jury is picked. The Court Administrator's goal is to have ten judge days for each of the three judges every jury selection day. But their schedules are so full with other matters, that is often hard to do.
Bob: Well Mary, how would I get my case heard if I wanted it to go forward quickly?
Mary: That's where Mrs. Spotts' expertise comes in. The first thing you want to do is be sure to ask for your trial date at the pre-trial conference. Bring your calendar with you so you know what days you are available. If you get a date at the pre-trial conference, you can be reasonably assured that you will get to pick your jury at jury selection day and that the trial will go forward as scheduled. If you wait until jury selection day to get your trial date, you have to take the leftovers and sometimes there aren't any.
Bob: That's a good tip, Mary. Is there anything else you would suggest?
Mary: Yes. Be aggressive in trying to contact the Assistant District Attorney assigned to your case. They have a very heavy caseload and often can't focus on a case until just before pre-trial conference or sometimes even jury selection day. The more you contact them in advance, the better the chance is that they will have had an opportunity to look at your case and make some decision. When the cases back up, some lawyers have gotten into the habit of listing a case for Anon-jury@ trial. This has the effect of continuing the case to a non-jury trial day. Those cases are then lined up in a queue for the next available judge for non-jury trial.
Bob: Well, Mary, are many cases actually tried non-jury?
Mary: As you know, Bob, there are at least two kinds of non-jury trials. One which we criminal lawyers call a Aslow plea.@ Sometimes you have to go to trial to preserve your pre-trial appellate issues. Other times, the client or the victim in the case is stubborn and a trial is necessary although the lawyers understand what the verdict will be. There are rare cases where the case is so controversial that the defense lawyer concludes that a jury could simply not be trusted to hear the case. In those instances, we opt for a trial judge to hear the case. As you know, that is a great disadvantage because there is only one person that the government has to convince rather than the twelve.
Bob: If I list a case for non-jury trial, and the client changes his mind, can we then get a jury trial?
Mary: Yes, Bob, and that is often done. As a practical matter, some lawyers have been treating non-jury trials as a form of continuance. While this is discouraged by the court, and Pa. R. Crim. P. 620, it is done. I know some lawyers who are candid enough to tell the Court Administrator that this case is a AB List@ non-jury trial, meaning that it is simply put in line to put the case on hold. That does help her in deciding how to list the cases for the non-jury days. Oftentimes these cases are worked out before they need to be rescheduled for the next jury selection day.
Bob: Wow, Mary, that's certainly not how we did it in Philadelphia.
Mary: Bob, this system probably wouldn't work in a big city where the lawyers don't cooperate with the Court Administration and vice versa. But here in Centre County, we are blessed with excellent people and if you work with them, they will work with you. As a new lawyer, I can only urge you to get to know Mrs. Spotts and keep her informed on the status of your cases. She has the amazing ability to do ten things at once, so find her, talk to her, and keep her informed. If you do, your client will be well served.
Bob: Thanks, Mary. With good advice like that, I should pick up the check for the coffee.
Mary: Bob, with good advice like that, you should pick up the check for dinner at the Gamble Mill.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Reliable Sources is the nom de plume of a real lawyer practicing in Centre
County. Names have been changed to protect the guilty and spread innuendos over
the innocent, but the information is otherwise reliable.