Court Opinion

ID: 9839141
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-11 20:16:21.073339+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:12:32.323094
License: Public Domain

-The following is an entirely new rule-

Rule 405. Forensic Laboratory Report and Certification.

      (a)   Report and Certification In Lieu of Expert Testimony.

            (1)   If the requirements of this rule have been met, the attorney for the
                  Commonwealth may seek to offer a forensic laboratory report into
                  evidence in lieu of testimony in any adjudicatory hearing of a non-
                  detained juvenile.

            (2)   The report shall be supported by a certification, as provided in
                  subdivision (e), from the expert who drafted the report and performed
                  the analysis or examination.

      (b)   Notice.

            (1)   The attorney for the Commonwealth shall file the written notice and
                  serve the written notice, together with the report and certification,
                  upon the juvenile’s attorney.

            (2)   The notice shall include a statement informing the juvenile that:

                  (i)       if no written demand for testimony is made within 10 days of
                            the service of the notice, the forensic laboratory report and
                            certification are admissible in evidence, as provided in
                            subdivision (c)(3); and

                  (ii)      the expert who drafted the report does not have to testify.

            (3)   Service shall occur no later than 20 days prior to the adjudicatory
                  hearing.

            (4)   Once entered into evidence, the report and certification shall qualify
                  as if the expert had testified personally.

      (c)   Demand.

            (1)   Within 10 days of service of the notice, the juvenile’s attorney may
                  file and serve a written demand upon the attorney for the
                  Commonwealth requiring the expert to testify at the adjudicatory
                  hearing.
             (2)    If a written demand is filed and served, the expert must testify.

             (3)    If no demand is filed and served as required by subdivision (c)(1),
                    the report and certification are admissible in evidence without the
                    expert’s testimony.

      (d)    Extension. For cause shown, the judge may:

             (1)    extend the time requirements of this rule; or

             (2)    grant a continuance of the adjudicatory hearing.

      (e)    Certification. The expert shall complete a certification providing:

             (1)    the education, training, and experience that qualify the expert to
                    perform the analysis or examination;

             (2)    the entity by which the expert is employed and a description of the
                    expert’s regular duties;

             (3)    the name and location of the laboratory where the analysis or
                    examination was performed;

             (4)    any state, national, or international accreditations of the laboratory at
                    which the analysis or examination was performed;

             (5)    that the analysis or examination was performed under industry-
                    approved procedures or standards; and

             (6)    the report accurately reflects the findings and opinions of the expert.

Comment: This rule is intended to establish a uniform procedure for delinquency
proceedings, similar to Pa.R.Crim.P. 574, for the admission of laboratory reports without
the expense of live expert testimony while protecting a juvenile’s confrontation rights.
The rule provides a “notice and demand” procedure for delinquency proceedings. Under
this rule, the attorney for the Commonwealth may seek to admit a forensic laboratory
report as evidence without expert testimony if the notice requirements are met and no
demand for the presence of the expert is made. If the juvenile makes such a demand,
the expert is required to testify before the report can be admitted into evidence.

      Given the prompt adjudicatory hearing requirement of the Juvenile Act, 42 Pa.C.S.
§ 6335(a) (if the juvenile is detained, then the adjudicatory hearing must be held within

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10 days of the filing of a petition), this rule is only available for adjudicatory hearings of
non-detained juveniles. See Pa.R.J.C.P. 404(B) (if the juvenile is not detained, then the
adjudicatory hearing must be held within a reasonable time).

        Nothing in this rule is intended to: 1) preclude a stipulation agreed to by the parties
for the admission of the report without the expert’s presence; 2) prevent further stipulation
by the parties in light of the admission of the report and certification; or 3) change the
discovery requirements pursuant to Rule 340.

        Pursuant to subdivision (d), the court may permit filing of the notice or demand
after the time period required in the rule if the party seeking the late filing shows cause
for the delay. In the situation where the judge permits the late filing of the notice, the
juvenile still has ten days to make the demand for the live testimony of the expert. This
may necessitate a continuance of the adjudicatory hearing.

      The certification in subdivision (e) does not require a description of the actual tests
performed for the analysis. This information more properly belongs in the report itself.
Because one of the goals of this rule is to permit the juvenile to make an informed decision
regarding whether to demand the live testimony of the expert, the report should provide
information sufficient to describe the methodology by which the results were determined.

         For purposes of this rule, a laboratory is “accredited” when its management,
personnel, quality system, operational and technical procedures, equipment, and physical
facilities meet the ISO/IEC 17025 standard in the forensic field of testing as determined
by an International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation recognized accreditation
organization that has been evaluated to meet the ISO/IEC 17011 standard and that has
expertise in the forensic laboratory accreditation field.

       See Rule 345 for filing and service requirements.

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