Court Opinion

ID: 9754638
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 20:08:33.697857+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:56.106793
License: Public Domain

ZAPPALA, Justice,
dissenting.
Once again this Court has embarked upon a course of “judicial gymnastics”. Rule 1100 was promulgated to ensure a defendant’s right to a speedy trial and to avoid a *394case-by-case review to determine whether that right has been violated. Consistently, this Court has ignored the clear mandate of Rule 1100 by a course of judicial amendment without formally adopting or repealing the existing Rule. [See Commonwealth v. Crowley, 502 Pa. 393, 466 A.2d 1009 (1983), Zappala, J. dissenting; Commonwealth v. Green, 503 Pa. 278, 469 A.2d 552 (1983), Zappala, J. dissenting; Commonwealth v. Manley, 503 Pa. 482, 469 A.2d 1042 (1983), Zappala, J. dissenting; and Commonwealth v. Guldin, 502 Pa. 66, 463 A.2d 1011 (1983), Zappala, J. dissenting.] Rather than continuing to emasculate a rule promulgated by this Court, this Court should formally repeal the Rule or amend it to provide for the desired result. Without such action, this Court will continue to befuddle not only the accused but also his attorney as to what the Rule really means, resulting in an escalation of litigation. I, therefore, respectfully dissent from the majority opinion for the reasons set forth in my dissent in Commonwealth v. Crowley, supra.1

. I find it rather peculiar that while some counties in this Common- . wealth strive diligently to protect the accused’s right to a speedy trial to the exclusion of other judicial matters, other counties continuously fail to undertake any remedial action. It is for the benefit of these latter counties that this Court has created the exceptions to Rule 1100, rather than questioning their operation.