Mary Konieczny, Anthony J. Golembiewski, Christopher W. Humphrey, and Therese Thompson Miles v. Stephen A. Zappala, Jr., District Attorney of Allegheny County

Summary

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court held that the Allegheny County District Attorney violated Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 506 by refusing to review and investigate private criminal complaints and by failing to approve or disapprove them with written reasons. The court reversed the trial court’s dismissal of the appellants’ mandamus action and remanded for compliance with Rule 506. The court did not decide the parties’ standing or ripeness arguments.

Holdings

1. When a citizen submits a private criminal complaint containing factual averments, the attorney for the Commonwealth must review and, when necessary, investigate the allegations, then either approve the complaint and transmit it to the issuing authority or disapprove it and state the reasons in writing on the complaint form before returning it to the complainant.
2. Mandamus was proper to compel the District Attorney to perform the mandatory duties imposed by Rule 506, including reviewing and investigating the complaints and approving or disapproving them with written reasons.
3. The pre-written press release did not constitute a compliant denial under Rule 506 and did not provide a rationale that Appellants were required to appeal under Rule 506(B)(2).

Questions Presented

1. Whether the District Attorney violated Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 506 by refusing to accept, review, investigate, and approve or disapprove Appellants' properly submitted private criminal complaints.
2. Whether mandamus was an available remedy to compel the District Attorney to perform the mandatory duties imposed by Rule 506.
3. Whether Appellants were required to seek review under Rule 506(B)(2) before filing a mandamus action when the District Attorney provided no written reasons for denying or refusing to review the complaints.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded