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278 Pa. Super. 599

Commonwealth v. Webb

Superior Court of Pennsylvania

Decided June 13, 1980

Superior Court of Pennsylvania · decided 1980-06-13

Cited by 2 later decisions — most recently May 1982

2 state decisions

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1980-06-13

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VAN der VOORT, Judge,

¶1dissenting:

¶2I believe th^t the record in this case demonstrates that the Commonwealth used reasonable efforts and due diligence to arrest the defendant-appellant. The arrest was accomplished ten (10) days after the complaint was filed. Counsel *609for defendant-appellant, at the time he was seeking a continuance, would have every reason to believe that the 180 day period for trial had not yet expired because of the inability of the law enforcement officers to locate the defendant-appellant until December 27, 1974. To hold that defense counsel should have guessed that the Commonwealth could not prove due diligence is simply second-guessing counsel’s strategy after the fact. I believe that the ten (10) days after the complaint was filed, during which time the Commonwealth was looking for the defendant-appellant, should be excluded from the calculation of the 180 day period for trial.

¶3At the very least, defense counsel should not be held ineffective because he failed to file a motion to dismiss in preference to his filing a motion for continuance.

¶4For these reasons, I respectfully dissent.

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