Court Opinion

ID: 9750557
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 15:07:20.032777+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:26:12.656397
License: Public Domain

SPAETH, President Judge,
dissenting:
The majority excuses the Commonwealth from proving its allegations supporting a petition to extend under Rule 1100 because appellant did not contest any specific facts averred. I dissent because I find no authority for the proposition that the Commonwealth can dispense with its burden of proving due diligence when a defendant challenges it to prove its allegations.
The criminal complaint charging appellant with maintaining illegal lotteries and gambling devices was filed on November 12, 1980. The run date under Rule 1100 was therefore May 11, 1981. Pa.R.Crim.P. 1100(a)(2). The case was listed for trial on March 30, 1981, but because of various delays,1 was relisted for trial on May 11, 1981. On April 8, 1981, the Commonwealth filed an application for an extension, which was heard on May 11, 1981. At the hearing, the Commonwealth amended its application to add *226the following as a reason why the application should be granted:
(8) On May 11, 1981 the Commonwealth’s expert witness will be unavailable for a period of 2 weeks due to his attendance at Drug Enforcement School sponsored by the Department of Justice. The Commonwealth has not requested any prior continuances, nor has a previous [e]xtention [u]nder Rule 1100 been granted.
The assistant district attorney offered no evidence in support of this allegation, merely reciting it. N.T. 5/11/81, at 2. Defense counsel responded by saying:
Our position is, Your Honor, that a mere assertion that due diligence was exercised is insufficient to allow for the granting of extension of time. If there was a showing, more extensive showing, that this case could not have been brought before the Court, then possibly our position would alter, but I don’t believe on the face of what the District Attorney has presented today that an extension has been shown to be necessary. Id. at 5.
The trial court asked the assistant district attorney, “Do you wish to present anything further?”, to which she replied:
No, I believe that the allegations as set forth in the Petition along with my amendment would be sufficient. Id.
The trial court then granted an extension to July 6, 1981, explaining that it did so “because of the unavailability of Commonwealth witnesses [sic].” Id. The court did not consider, or base its order on, the other allegations in the Commonwealth’s application.2 The case was later continued to September 9, 1981, when trial began. The jury found appellant guilty as charged, and this appeal is from the ensuing judgment of sentence.
Appellant argues that the trial court improperly granted the Commonwealth’s application to extend the time for *227commencement of trial on May 11, 1981.3 Under Rule 1100, the trial court may grant such an application “only on findings based upon a record showing that trial cannot be commenced within the prescribed period despite due diligence by the Commonwealth and, if the delay is due to the court’s inability to try the defendant within the prescribed period, upon findings based upon a record showing the causes of the delay and the reasons why the delay cannot be avoided.” Pa.R.Crim.P. 1100(c)(3). In Commonwealth v. Ehredt, 485 Pa. 191, 401 A.2d 358 (1979), the Supreme Court stated:
The Commonwealth has the burden, by a preponderance of the evidence, of showing it has met the ¡requirements of Rule 1100(c). Cf. Commonwealth v. Wade, 475 Pa. 399, 380 A.2d 782 (1977); Commonwealth v. Mitchell, 472 Pa. 553, 372 A.2d 826 (1977). Furthermore, in reviewing a hearing court’s ruling that the Commonwealth has met its burden, we consider only the evidence presented by the Commonwealth and so much evidence, as fairly read in the context of the record as a whole, remains uncontradicted. See Commonwealth v. Mitchell, supra.
Although the preponderance standard is the least burdensome standard of proof known to the law, Commonwealth v. Mitchell, supra, a bare statement by the Commonwealth’s attorney that several witnesses are “unavailable,” without more, does not establish “due diligence” within that standard. While the unavailability of a witness may be a relevant factor in determining whether an extension should be granted, see Commonwealth v. Brown, 252 Pa.Super. 365, 381 A.2d 961 (1977), “[m]ere assertions of due diligence and unproven facts, do not establish cause for an extension under Rule 1100(c).” Commonwealth v. Antonuccio, [257] Pa.Super. [535], [537], 390 A.2d 1366, 1367 (1978).
*228Id,., 485 Pa. at 191, 195-96, 401 A.2d 358, 360-61 (footnotes omitted).
See Commonwealth v. Lafty, 333 Pa.Super. 428, 434, 482 A.2d 643, 646 (1984) (en banc); Commonwealth v. Jackson, 269 Pa.Super. 249, 252, 409 A.2d 873, 874 (1979). And see Commonwealth v. Abridge, 492 Pa. 90, 422 A.2d 487 (1980) (Commonwealth did not sustain its burden where it presented no evidence at hearing to support its application for an extension); Commonwealth v. Delpiano, 290 Pa.Super. 510, 434 A.2d 1260 (1981) (same); Commonwealth v. Hill, 290 Pa.Super. 399, 434 A.2d 813 (1981) (same); Commonwealth v. Thompson, 285 Pa.Super. 155, 426 A.2d 1188 (1981) (same); Commonwealth v. McNeill, 274 Pa.Super. 257, 418 A.2d 394 (1980) (same); Commonwealth v. Brant, 272 Pa.Super. 135, 414 A.2d 707 (1979) (same).
The Commonwealth’s application for an extension should not have been granted. No evidence, of any sort, was offered in support of the allegation that “the Commonwealth’s expert witness will be unavailable for a period of 2 weeks due to his attendance at Drug Enforcement School.....” Although appellant did not contest the facts contained in the allegation, appellant did, in the very language of Commonwealth v. Ehredt, supra, argue that the Commonwealth’s “mere assertion” was insufficient to support the application. The Commonwealth was put on notice that appellant was not excusing it from the necessity of introducing evidence in support of its application. The assistant district attorney simply refused to carry the Commonwealth’s burden when, misstating the law, she responded “that the allegations ... [were] sufficient.” 4
*229I should vacate judgments of sentence and discharge appellant.
WIEAND and DEL SOLE, JJ., join.

. I should not consider whether the record is sufficient to permit a finding that these delays were excludable under Rule 1100(d), for the trial court made no such finding and the Commonwealth does not argue that the delays were excludable, instead arguing only that the trial court properly found under Rule 1100(c) that trial “could not be commenced within the prescribed period despite due diligence by the Commonwealth____” Brief for Commonwealth at 3.

. See note 1, supra.

. Given my disposition of this issue, I should not reach appellant's other arguments.

. Neither Commonwealth v. Reihart, 302 Pa.Super. 515, 449 A.2d 35 (1982), nor Commonwealth v. Thompson, 292 Pa.Super. 108, 436 A.2d 1028 (1981), are necessarily inconsistent with this conclusion. The opinions in both cases fail to indicate whether there was a hearing on the application to extend, and, if so, whether any testimony was offered in support of the Commonwealth’s allegations of the unavailability or whether the record contained other evidence in support of the Commonwealth’s allegations. However, to the extent that Reihart and Thompson imply that allegations of witness unavailability unsup*229ported by evidence may be sufficient to establish due diligence, they are contrary to established principles.