Matthew T Mangino

September 26, 2024 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court must decide whether the term "cruel punishment" is more expansive in the punishments it precludes than the term "cruel and unusual punishment."

By Matthew T. Mangino

6 minute read

July 02, 2024 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has yet again addressed the issue of proving a prima facie case at a preliminary hearing. The Supreme Court has clarified that inadmissible hearsay alone will not be adequate to identify a defendant at a preliminary hearing.

By Matthew T. Mangino

6 minute read

January 26, 2024 | The Legal Intelligencer

For Pennsylvania, it is an opportunity to move on from the dubious distinction of being one of only two states, South Dakota is the other, providing zero state funding for indigent defense. For Pennsylvania counties the burden of providing counsel to indigent defendants was previously paid for without state assistance.

By Matthew T. Mangino

6 minute read

September 07, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

The distinction between pre-arrest and post-arrest silence is crucial. Prejudice to defendants whose post-arrest silence is brought up is "innate." The prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not affect the deliberations of the jury.

By Matthew T. Mangino

6 minute read

May 11, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

The American Bar Association (ABA) released its 2023 Plea Bargain Task Force Report. Three years in the making, the report revealed that in 2018, only 2% of federal criminal cases ended in a jury trial.

By Matthew T. Mangino

6 minute read

March 02, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

Shapiro's position is not the usual political side-step. He didn't say the death penalty is racist, or there are too may exonerations or even that the process is arbitrary—no, Shapiro contends the death penalty is wrong, state-sponsored death is immoral and Pennsylvania, or any other state for that matter, should not be in the business of death.

By Matthew T. Mangino

7 minute read

January 05, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

As the new, more stringent, law took effect the Pennsylvania Superior Court made a timely decision in Commonwealth v. Richards, No. 1673 EDA 2020 (Oct. 4, 2022) to clarify when a previous DUI/ARD is also a considered a prior DUI for purposes of grading a subsequent DUI.

By Matthew T. Mangino

6 minute read

September 22, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

The recent decision from the Fifth Circuit ruled that Braylon Coulter's statements while handcuffed were admissible, even though he had not received Miranda warnings before he told the officer where the gun could be found.

By Matthew T. Mangino

7 minute read

May 05, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

Every state—with the exception of Iowa—has some form of compassionate release. Unfortunately, a number of states, like Pennsylvania, have made it virtually impossible for seriously ill inmates to get out of prison.

By Matthew T. Mangino

6 minute read

March 03, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

A recent Pennsylvania Superior Court panel has weighed in on the ongoing evolution of what evidence prosecutors need to sustain a prima facie case at a preliminary hearing.

By Matthew T. Mangino

6 minute read