The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the trial court’s order granting the Commonwealth’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari and denying the defendant’s request to dismiss the charges against him on double jeopardy grounds. Officer Navarro arrested the defendant for retail theft. The officer was present at the defendant’s preliminary hearing, but the Commonwealth was not represented by a member of the DA’s office. At the hearing, Officer Navarro agreed to withdraw the felony retail theft charge in exchange for the defendant’s guilty plea to the reduced charge of summary retail theft. The Magisterial District Judge (“MDJ”) accepted the plea. Officer Navarro made this agreement without approval from the DA’s office. About one month later, the Commonwealth refiled the original felony retail theft charge. Before commencement of the preliminary hearing on the refiled charge, the defendant served the Commonwealth with a Motion for Compulsory Joinder. The MDJ granted the motion and dismissed the refiled felony retail theft charge. The Commonwealth filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari. The trial court granted the writ, vacated the defendant’s guilty plea to summary retail theft graded as a summary offense, and reinstated the original felony charge. The defendant appealed, and the Superior Court affirmed. The Court ruled that the defendant’s plea was a legal nullity because the officer was not a Rule 551 designee of the Commonwealth and, thus, the officer lacked the authority to withdraw the charge.