In Commonwealth v. Bennett, the Pennsylvania Superior Court disavowed the defendant’s “gamesmanship” employed to use the compulsory-joinder rule, 18 Pa.C.S.A. ยง 110, as a bar to further prosecution. The defendant was stopped for traffic violations, and a subsequent search of the car uncovered a gun. He was cited for the traffic violations and charged criminally for the gun. Soon thereafter, he sent his lawyer to Philadelphia Municipal Court’s Traffic Court to pay the citation. Then, in the Court of Common Pleas, the defendant moved to dismiss the gun charges under the compulsory-joinder statute. The defendant requested that the Superior Court overrule its prior holding in Commonwealth v. Johnson, 221 A.3d 217 (Pa. Super. 2019), to secure relief. The Superior Court declined the invitation and affirmed the lower court’s order permitting the gun charges to proceed.
