Pennsylvania Code › Title 234 - RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE › Chapter 5 - PRETRIAL PROCEDURES IN COURT CASES › Part B(1) - Complaint Procedures › Rule 507 - Approval of Police Complaints and Arrest Warrant Affidavits by Attorney for the Commonwealth-Local Option

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(A)
				The district attorney of any county may require that criminal complaints,
				arrest warrant affidavits, or both filed in the county by police officers, as
				defined in these rules, have the approval of an attorney for the Commonwealth
				prior to filing.
(B) If the
				district attorney elects to proceed under paragraph (A), the district attorney
				shall file a certification with the court of common pleas, which certification
				shall state whether prior approval of police complaints, or arrest warrant
				affidavits, or both shall be required, shall specify which offenses or grades
				of offenses shall require such prior approval, and shall also specify the date
				such procedure is to become effective. The court of common pleas shall
				thereupon promulgate a local rule in the following form, setting forth the
				offenses or grades of offenses specified in the certification and stating
				whether prior approval of police complaints, arrest warrant affidavits, or both
				shall be required:
RULE . APPROVAL OF POLICE (COMPLAINTS)
(ARREST WARRANT AFFIDAVITS)
(COMPLAINTS AND ARREST WARRANT
				  AFFIDAVITS)
BY ATTORNEY FOR THE COMMONWEALTH.
The District Attorney of County having filed a
				  certification pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 507, (criminal complaints) (arrest
				  warrant affidavits) (criminal complaints and arrest warrant affidavits) by
				  police officers, as defined in the Rules of Criminal Procedure,
				  charging
______________________________________
______________________________________
shall not hereafter be accepted by any judicial
				  officer unless the (complaint) (affidavit) (complaint and affidavit) has the
				  approval of an attorney for the Commonwealth prior to
				  filing.
(C) If an
				attorney for the Commonwealth disapproves a police complaint, arrest warrant
				affidavit, or both, the attorney shall furnish to the police officer who
				prepared the complaint, affidavit, or both a written notice of the disapproval,
				in substantially the following form, and the attorney shall maintain a record
				of the written notice.
D. A. File Number ____________
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
____________ COUNTY
NOTICE AND RECORD OF DISAPPROVAL
Commonwealth of
						  Pennsylvania
Complaint/Affidavit/Application of:
vs.
Charge:
____________
____________
Police Number:
						  ______________________________________
____________
Police Department:
						  ______________________________________
Occurrence Date:
						  ______________________________________
Time: ___ Location:
						  ______________________________________
SUMMARY OF FACTS AND PROBABLE CAUSE
______________________________________
______________________________________
CLEAN/NCIC check reveals no outstanding warrants.
Date: ____________ Source of Information: ____________
REASON(S) FOR DISAPPROVAL
(Please check appropriate reason)
IC = Insufficient Corroboration
UV =
						  Unavailable or Uncooperative Victim
IE = Insufficient Evidence
WC = Witness
						  Credibility/Contradicted
II = Identification Inconclusive
ID =
						  Inadequate Description of Persons, Premises, or Property
IJ = Interest of Justice
NS = Insufficient
						  Cause for Nighttime Search
IS = Inadmissible Evidence
IP = Insufficient Probable Cause
LP = Lacks Prosecutorial Merit
UW = Unavailable or Uncooperative Witness
LJ = Lacks Jurisdiction
Other: ______________________________________
______________________________________
DISAPPROVED BY: _________________________
ATTORNEY FOR COMMONWEALTH
DATE: ____________
(D) No defendant shall have the right to
				relief based solely upon a violation of this rule.