“ Once a preliminary hearing has been conducted and a Magisterial Judge has ruled that the case should go on for further Court action, the next step is for the District Attorney to file an information. The information which is an initial pleading after a preliminary hearing shall be signed by the District Attorney and shall state valid and sufficient information containing the dates of the offenses and what offenses the Commonwealth is proceeding on; usually they are the identical charges a Magisterial Judge has bound over. It must contain plain and concise statements of the charges of the offense alleged in the complaint. The information shall contain the official or customary citations of the statute and section of the law that the Defendant is alleged to have violated.
On the other hand, after a case has been held in the lower Court for further Court action, the District Attorney may at any time before the information is filed and even after the information is filed withdraw one or more charges by filing a notice with the Clerk of Courts. And, for that matter, upon the filing of an information, any charge not listed in the information, shall be deemed withdrawn by the District Attorney.
What happens if some of the information filed is wrong? The Court may allow an information to be amended when there is a defect in the form, the description of the offense, the description of any person or property or the date on which the offense was committed. But, this is conditioned upon the information amended does not charge an additional or different offense.
This is the first step in a long and detailed process of a criminal trial.
If you require assistance, contact Powell Law at (570) 961-0777. The consultation is FREE and you don’t pay anything unless we win.
