American Samoa § 22.0810 - Appearance in court

§ 22.0810. Appearance in court

(a) In any instance in which the summons is not answered by appearance, plea and waiver before a violations clerk, the defendant shall answer the summons by appearing in court at the date and time indicated on the summons. (b) Before any offense shall be heard by the court, or any plea taken, there shall be filed with the clerk of the court a complaint signed and sworn to by a police officer of American Samoa, which shall set forth the particulars of the alleged offense. The complaint shall be substantially in the form known as the “Uniform Traffic Ticket and Complaint Affidavit”. The complaint may also contain other information pertinent to the alleged offense. (c) There shall also be transmitted to the court an “Abstract of Court Record for Violations Bureau”, which shall be substantially in the form known as the “Uniform Traffic Ticket and Complaint-Abstract of Court Record”. Upon disposition of the case, the court shall complete such abstract and cause it to be transmitted to a violations clerk. (d) The summons and complaint of the uniform traffic ticket and complaint shall be considered sufficient information to initiate and sustain an action under this chapter. Upon proper motion by the defendant, however, the government may be required to produce further information which may have become essential for a fair trial. Case Notes: The District Court has no jurisdiction to proceed with the trial of a traffic case if no sworn complaint has been filed. Atapana Aumua v. Government of American Samoa. ASR (1980).