The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to address questions about speedy trial rights for the criminally accused during a global pandemic.

In an Oct. 3 order, the high court granted the petition for allowance of appeal in the case Commonwealth v. Lear, limiting arguments to the issue of whether a court must assess the prosecution's "due diligence during a worldwide pandemic for purposes of Rule 600 before it excludes delay attributable to a local judicial emergency during which the president judge cancelled and suspended all trials, suspended Rule 600 and otherwise excluded judicial delay caused by the judicial emergency, and implemented strict procedures to protect the public?"