Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 12, March 23, 2024
(A) After a person
is arrested or otherwise proceeded against with a criminal complaint, the
attorney for the Commonwealth may move to present the matter to an indicting
grand jury instead of proceeding to a preliminary hearing.
(1) The motion shall allege facts asserting
that witness intimidation has occurred, is occurring, or is likely to
occur.
(2) The motion shall be
presented ex parte to the president judge, or the president
judge's designee.
(3) Upon receipt
of the motion, the president judge, or the president judge's designee, shall
review the motion. If the judge determines the allegations establish probable
cause that witness intimidation has occurred, is occurring, or is likely to
occur, the judge shall grant the motion, and shall notify the proper issuing
authority.
(a) Upon receipt of the notice from
the judge that the case will be presented to the indicting grand jury, the
issuing authority shall cancel the preliminary hearing, close out the case
before the issuing authority, and forward the case to the court of common pleas
as provided in Rule 547 for all further proceedings.
(b) Once the case has been forwarded to the
court of common pleas, the case shall not be remanded to the issuing
authority.
(4) The order
granting the motion or the order denying the motion, and the motion shall be
sealed.
(5) The attorney for the
Commonwealth shall file the sealed order and the sealed motion with the clerk
of courts.
(B) If not
already assigned, the president judge shall assign one of the judges in the
judicial district to serve as the supervising judge for the indicting grand
jury.
(C) If the motion is granted,
the case shall be presented to the grand jury within 21 days of the date of the
order, unless:
(1) The grand jury proceedings
are waived by the defendant with the consent of the attorney for the
Commonwealth; or
(2) The attorney
for the Commonwealth elects not to present the case to a grand jury.
If the case is not presented to the grand jury as provided in
this paragraph, the defendant is entitled to a preliminary hearing in the court
of common pleas.
