• Hand v. Fuller

    Publication Date: 2023-05-08
    Practice Area: Landlord Tenant Law
    Industry: Real Estate
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge McCaffery
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 1357 EDA 2022

    Lease qualified as a renewal even though it contained materially different terms from the parties' previous lease, and therefore landlords were exempt from the lead disclosure requirement under local ordinance. Order of the trial court affirmed.

  • Commonwealth v. Rowe

    Publication Date: 2023-05-01
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Stevens
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 649 MDA 2022

    Failure to seek DNA testing prior to pleading guilty was fatal to post-conviction testing request where defendant failed to show that testing available at the time of his prosecution would not have been as reliable as present testing methods. Order of the PCRA court affirmed.

  • Commonwealth v. Shanholtz

    Publication Date: 2023-05-01
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge King
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 1791 EDA 2022

    Trial court could extend time for defendant to pay imposed court costs but lacked authority to waive costs due to defendant's indigent status. Order of the trial court affirmed.

  • Commonwealth v. Ani

    Publication Date: 2023-05-01
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Bender
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 1208 MDA 2021

    Commonwealth appealed the trial court's order granting appellee's motion to suppress evidence recovered from the execution of cell phone search warrants. The court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings.

  • Commonwealth v. Sinkiewicz

    Publication Date: 2023-04-24
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge McCaffery
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 480 EDA 2022

    Commonwealth failed to present prima facie case of aggravated assault by police officer when he momentarily struck resisting protestors with his baton, since the evidence did not support a finding that the officer had specific intent to inflict serious bodily injury. Order of the trial court affirmed.

  • Commonwealth v. Horan

    Publication Date: 2023-04-24
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Lazarus
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 2417 EDA 2022

    Trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear PCRA petition raising issues that were on appeal in defendant's prior petition to enforce plea agreement. Order of the trial court affirmed.

  • Commonwealth v. Perkins

    Publication Date: 2023-04-24
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Dubow
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 2191 EDA 2021

    Trial court erred in finding defendant in direct criminal contempt where defendant threatened a witness outside of the courtroom and out of the presence of the trial judge. Conviction and judgment of sentence vacated.

  • Commonwealth v. Grush

    Publication Date: 2023-04-24
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Bender
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 611 WDA 2022

    Court could admit preliminary hearing testimony of deceased witness despite defendant not cross-examining the witness about his criminal history, where defendant and the witness were the only two suspects to the crime and defendant thoroughly cross-examined the witness regarding his potential involvement in the offense, and the witness's criminal history would have only been minor impeachment evidence. Order of the trial court reversed, case remanded.

  • Commonwealth v. Laur

    Publication Date: 2023-04-24
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Colins
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 706 WDA 2022

    Trial court erred in ordering restitution to county jail for medical bills incurred by a victim of inmate assault where the jail had not yet paid any portion of the bills and the restitution statute only authorized restitution to a government entity for any compensation it had already paid to a victim of crime. Judgment of sentence vacated in part, case remanded for resentencing.

  • Commonwealth v. Derr

    Publication Date: 2023-04-17
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge McLaughlin
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 290 MDA 2022

    Accessing Pennsylvania police database for personal purposes constituted unlawful use of a computer as "exceeds authorized access" was interpreted as accessing a computer system or network for reasons other than those falling within the scope of official permission. Order of the trial court reversed.