This case is before
On January 12, 1972, appellant was arrested for speeding in a school zone. As a result of this arrest, a hearing was held on January 25, 1972, before a Justice of the Peace, at which appellant was found guilty of the offense charged. On May-5, 1972, appellant was informed by mail that as a result of the conviction, a hearing was to be held concerning the suspension of his operating privileges. The date set for this hearing was May 18, 1972. It is uncontested that appellant failed to appear at the time and place set for the suspension hearing. As a result of his failure to appear, the hearing examiner, having no other evidence before him but the record of the offense and conviction, appellant’s operating privileges were suspended for a period of one month.
It is appellant’s position here on appeal that his failure to appear was not intentional, but as a result of his attorney’s advice. Appellant testified that on May 18, 1972, the date of the suspension hearing, his attorney was at Army summer camp, and that the attorney had assured him the hearing had been rescheduled for a later date. Unfortunately for appellant, such was not the case; hence this appeal.
What is involved herein is the Act of April 29, 1959, P. L. 58, sec. 619.3, as amended, 75 PS §620, which reads, in part:
*498 “Any person whose operator’s license or learner’s permit has been suspended . . . shall have the right to file a petition, within thirty (30) days thereafter, for a hearing in the matter in the court of common pleas of the county in which the operator . . . resides. . . . Such courts are hereby vested with jurisdiction ... to take testimony and examine into the facts of the case, and to determine whether the petitioner is subject to suspension. ...”
Under the language in Massey, this court can only make the determination that appellant was subject to suspension, or not, and we must determine that he was. However, we cannot overlook the fact that a hearing,
“ [W] here an administrative body has made an invalid finding or has not accorded a proper hearing, the court granting judicial review should not dispose of the matter on procedural grounds, but should remand the case to the administrative body for further proceedings”: Vivio Motor Vehicle Operator License Case, 209 Pa. Superior Ct. 90, 224 A. 2d 777 (1966).
Wherefore, the court enters the following
ORDER
And now, to wit, this December 11, 1972, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Bureau of Traffic Safety, is hereby ordered to set a new date and time for a hearing on the suspension of Nicholas J. Creazzo’s operator’s privileges.
