What Happens at a Preliminary Hearing in Cumberland County, PA?

How Cumberland County's Central Court works

The following is drawn from the county's own published Central Court Policies and Procedures. It is the county's policy, and the court can change it.

• · Central Court is held on Fridays, at least 22 times a year.
• · Each magisterial district court is allotted block times, with cases divided into three time blocks based on the prior year's criminal caseload as of November 1.
• · Two magisterial district judges preside on a rotation set by the Court Administrator, and at least two assistant district attorneys and at least two public defenders or assistant public defenders are required each week.
• · Incarcerated defendants are not included in Central Court. Their preliminary hearings are set before the originating magisterial district judge, and the case can be continued to Central Court if the defendant is later released.
• · A party may ask the originating magisterial district judge in writing, for good cause, to keep a case out of Central Court. The document indicates such requests are meant to be rare.
• · A defendant who waives the hearing presents the request to the presiding magisterial district judge and may apply for ARD at the same time, with approved defendants directed to ARD personnel.
• · A defendant who neither waives nor pleads, and a defendant who fails to appear, has the case remanded to the originating magisterial district judge.
• · No cash is collected at Central Court. Bail and fines are paid at the originating magisterial district court or the Clerk of Courts, depending on disposition.
• · Video conferencing, with the defendant's consent, must be requested at least seven days before the hearing.
• · Continuances must be requested in writing and are governed by Pa.R.Crim.P. 542.[1]

The ARD timing trap

Cumberland County publishes two ARD tracks, and they differ on exactly this point. The county's Central Court DUI information sheet states of the Fast Track ARD/DUI program that the "Preliminary hearing must be waived to be eligible." The county's adult probation newsletter describes the Regular ARD/DUI program as the traditional process, in which "After the preliminary hearing, a DUI defendant can apply for ARD." So in Cumberland County the waiver decision and the ARD track are linked for Fast Track but not for the regular track. These are the county's published materials, the Fast Track sheet carries a 2013 revision stamp, and the county can change either track — confirm the current requirements before your hearing date. In practice the ARD decision and the preliminary hearing decision can come at the same moment — at Central Court, a defendant who waives may apply for ARD at the same time. That is why the hearing date matters more in Cumberland County than people expect: by the time you are standing in front of the presiding magisterial district judge, you need to know whether you are pursuing ARD and whether waiving is the right call.

ARD takes two decisions, not one. Under Pa.R.Crim.P. 310 the attorney for the Commonwealth may move, before a judge empowered to try court cases, that the case be considered for ARD, and under Pa.R.Crim.P. 313(C) it is the judge who decides whether the case warrants it; if the judge does not accept the case, no appeal is allowed from that order[5] [6] . Under Pa.R.Crim.P. 316(b) "The period of such program for any defendant shall not exceed two years."[7] More on ARD in Cumberland County and the Pennsylvania ARD program.

What the hearing decides

Pa.R.Crim.P. 542(D): "At the preliminary hearing, the issuing authority shall determine from the evidence presented whether there is a prima facie case that (1) an offense has been committed and (2) the defendant has committed it."[1]

It is not a trial and there is no finding of guilt or innocence. The question is only whether the Commonwealth has made out a prima facie case on each charge.

What you may do at the hearing

Pa.R.Crim.P. 542(C) provides that "The defendant shall be present at any preliminary hearing except as provided in these rules," and that the defendant may:

• · be represented by counsel;
• · cross-examine witnesses and inspect physical evidence offered against the defendant;
• · call witnesses on the defendant's behalf, other than witnesses to the defendant's good reputation only;
• · offer evidence on the defendant's own behalf, and testify; and
• · make written notes of the proceedings, or have counsel do so, or make a stenographic, mechanical, or electronic record of the proceedings.

The Comment limits 542(C)(3): a defendant "may call witnesses at a preliminary hearing only to negate the existence of a prima facie case, and not merely for the purpose of discovering the Commonwealth's case."

Hearsay

Pa.R.Crim.P. 542(E): "Hearsay as provided by law shall be considered by the issuing authority in determining whether a prima facie case has been established. Hearsay evidence shall be sufficient to establish any element of an offense, including, but not limited to, those requiring proof of the ownership of, non-permitted use of, damage to, or value of property."

The Comment adds that "hearsay, whether written or oral, may establish the elements of any offense" and that "The presence of witnesses to establish these elements is not required at the preliminary hearing." It then adds a counterpoint: "But compare Commonwealth ex rel. Buchanan v. Verbonitz, 525 Pa. 413, 581 A.2d 172 (Pa. 1990) (plurality) (disapproving reliance on hearsay testimony as the sole basis for establishing a prima facie case)." Verbonitz is a plurality decision, as the Comment notes.

The possible outcomes

Under Pa.R.Crim.P. 543(B), the issuing authority holds the defendant for court on the offenses for which a prima facie case was established, and "If there is no offense for which a prima facie case has been established, the issuing authority shall discharge the defendant." Under Rule 543(E), where the Commonwealth does not establish a prima facie case and no continuance is sought or warranted, "the issuing authority shall dismiss the complaint."[2]

A dismissal is not necessarily the end of the case. Rule 543's Comment states: "Nothing in this rule would preclude the refiling of one or more of the charges, as provided in these rules."

The Comment also states that the issuing authority may hold a defendant for court on a lesser offense where the Commonwealth made out a prima facie case only as to that lesser offense, but "may not sua sponte reduce the grading of any charge."

Under Rule 543(F)(1), where a summary offense is joined with a misdemeanor, felony or murder charge and the Commonwealth establishes a prima facie case, the issuing authority does not dispose of the summary offense but forwards it to the court of common pleas with the charges held for court. And under Rule 543(G): "Except as provided in Rule 541(D), once a case is bound over to the court of common pleas, the case shall not be remanded to the issuing authority."

Waiving the hearing has its own consequence: under Pa.R.Crim.P. 541(A)(1), a defendant who waives is thereafter precluded from raising the sufficiency of the Commonwealth's prima facie case unless the parties agreed at the time of the waiver that the defendant later may challenge it. Rule 541(A)(2) adds that where the waiver was given by way of an agreement made in writing or on the record and the agreement is not accomplished, the defendant may challenge the sufficiency.[3]

If you miss the hearing

Under Pa.R.Crim.P. 543(D)(3), if the issuing authority finds that the defendant's absence is without cause and after notice, the absence is deemed a waiver of the right to be present "at any further proceedings before the issuing authority," and the issuing authority proceeds "in the same manner as though the defendant were present." The Comment adds that "The duration of this waiver only extends through those proceedings that the defendant is absent" — it is not a waiver of the right to be present in the court of common pleas. Notice is given by first class mail. If the hearing is conducted and the case is held for court, (D)(3)(b) requires notice by first class mail of the results and that a bench warrant has been requested, and requires the issuing authority, pursuant to Rule 547, to transmit the transcript to the clerk of courts with a request that a bench warrant be issued by the court of common pleas. If the hearing is conducted and the case is dismissed, (D)(3)(c) requires only notice of the results by first class mail.

Central courts in Pennsylvania

Centralized preliminary-hearing arrangements are governed by Pa.R.Crim.P. 131(B), which since December 2022 requires the president judge to petition the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, with the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania making the ultimate decision, while the Comment preserves central courts established under earlier orders.[4] We do not represent when or on what basis any particular county's central court was approved.

Cumberland County magisterial district courts

The district numbering is continuous with no gaps. The county's Clerk of Courts — the office that receives the transcript under Pa.R.Crim.P. 547 if your case is held for court — is in Room 205 at 1 Courthouse Square, Carlisle, PA 17013.

• · 09-1-01 — 920 Linda Lane, Camp Hill
• · 09-1-02 — 600 North 12th Street, Suite 200, Lemoyne
• · 09-1-03 — 98 South Enola Drive, Suite 1, Enola
• · 09-2-01 — 2260 Spring Road, Suite 3, Carlisle
• · 09-2-02 — 20 North Hanover Street, Suite 106, Carlisle
• · 09-3-01 — 35 West Orange Street, Shippensburg
• · 09-3-02 — 55 Penn Drive, Newville
• · 09-3-03 — 417 Village Drive, Suite 7, Carlisle
• · 09-3-04 — 5275 East Trindle Road, Suite 110, Mechanicsburg
• · 09-3-05 — Barclay Building, 507 North York Street, Mechanicsburg

Related pages

• · Cumberland County DUI defense
• · Cumberland County criminal defense
• · Pennsylvania preliminary hearings