Section 453. Joinder of Offenses and Defendants

(A) When more than one person is alleged to have participated in the commission of a summary offense, the issuing authority shall accept one citation or complaint for each person charged. The citations or complaints against such persons may be consolidated for trial.

(B) When more than one summary offense is alleged to have been committed by one person arising from the same incident, the matter shall proceed as a single case and the issuing authority shall receive only one set of costs.

Comment

This rule is based upon comparable provisions in Rule 505 that apply in court cases.

Paragraph (A) is intended to make clear that the costs in a summary case in which there are multiple defendants would be assessed against each individual defendant even when the defendants’ cases are consolidated for trial.

Official Note

Rule 82 adopted July 12, 1985, effective January 1, 1986; January 1, 1986 effective date extended to July 1, 1986; amended February 1, 1989, effective July 1, 1989; Comment revised August 9, 1994, effective January 1, 1995; renumbered Rule 453 and amended March 1, 2000, effective April 1, 2001.

Committee Explanatory Reports:

Report explaining the August 9, 1994 Comment revisions published at 22 Pa.B. 6 (January 4, 1992); Final Report published with the Court’s Order at 24 Pa.B. 4342 (August 27, 1994).

Final Report explaining the March 1, 2000 reorganization and renumbering of the rules published with the Court’s Order at 30 Pa.B. 1478 (March 18, 2000). empty