Superior Court 8/6/08 - COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. WILLIAM SMITH

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. WILLIAM SMITH
No. 2668 EDA 2005 2008 PA Super 179 Atlantic: n/a Filed: 8/6/2008
Appeal from the Order Entered August 18, 2005, in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No. CP#0411-0910 1/1
Before: FORD ELLIOTT, P.J., STEVENS, ORIE MELVIN, BENDER, BOWES, GANTMAN, PANELLA, DONOHUE, AND ALLEN, JJ.
Opinion by: FORD ELLIOT, P.J.
The Commonwealth appeals from the order entered August 18, 2005 in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County dismissing its case against William Smith (“Smith”). Smith was charged with aggravated assault, criminal mischief, fleeing police officers, possession of an instrument of crime, recklessly endangering another person, and simple assault based upon an incident which occurred on August 21, 2004.
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Did the trial court abuse its discretion when it
precluded the testimony of essential witnesses
whose statements had been provided to defendant
eight days prior to trial, and then discharged the
case when the Commonwealth indicated that it
intended to appeal that ruling?
Commonwealth’s brief at 4. We begin by noting that decisions involving
discovery in criminal cases lie within the discretion of the trial court.
Commonwealth v. Rucci, 543 Pa. 261, 283, 670 A.2d 1129, 1140 (1996),
cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1121 (1997). The court’s ruling will not be reversed
absent abuse of that discretion. Id.