Charges Withdrawn After Four Years of Pre-arrest Delay

The Case

Our client was facing serious felony charges, including robbery, conspiracy, and carrying a firearm without a license, stemming from an alleged incident in November 2021. The most serious charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. Despite filing the criminal complaint (the commonwealth’s charging document and arrest warrant) in late 2021, the Commonwealth did not arrest our client until late 2025—resulting in a massive gap of nearly four years.

The Strategy

Attorney Foltz filed a Rule 600 motion to dismiss, tracking the timeline down to the exact day. Under Pennsylvania law, prosecutors are required to bring a defendant to trial within 365 days. If there is a delay in making an arrest, the police must prove they actively and diligently tried to find the defendant. By demanding and analyzing the police department's internal "attempt to apprehend" logs, we exposed a critical flaw in the state's case: the police had conducted a completely passive, "desktop" investigation. They had not made a single physical attempt to look for our client in the community for years.

The Result

Faced with our formal motion and a glaring lack of police diligence, the District Attorney had no choice but to withdraw prosecution, giving our client a full dismissal without ever having to risk a trial.

The Takeaway

In criminal defense, you cannot simply wait for the system to treat you fairly. You need an attorney who knows how to audit the police logs, count the days, file the motions, and force the prosecution's hand.

Want to learn more about a Rule 600 motion? Click here.

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