Legal Question in Criminal Law in Pennsylvania

The answer to this is derived from Pa.R.Crim.P. 600 which basically says that if a person is incarcerated for over 180 days pending trial, he/she has to be granted nominal bail. If the case has dragged on for more than a year, it may be dismissed under Rule 600.

However, there are certain corollaries to this rule. For example, any time attributable to the Defense (e.g., postponements) is excluded from the Rule 600 analysis. That is, suppose a case is filed on January 1, 2011 and on, say, October 1, the Defense postpones the case for a month. That month is excluded from the "run date" under the rule, so the 365-day time period wouldn't actually elapse until February 1.

Also, even though more than 365 days have elapsed that are attributable to the prosecution, if the prosecution has moved "diligently" to try the case and just couldn't, they may be able to avoid dismissal under Rule 600.

The best way to deal with this issue is to file a Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 600, along with a Brief detailing the dates involved, indicating the applicable "mechanical run date," and addressing any claims of "diligence" brought by the Commonwealth.

I hope this answer helped - if you need further assistance, please feel free to contact me.