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  • Commonwealth v. Howard

    Publication Date: 2022-11-28
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Bender
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 2821 EDA 2019

    Government report highlighting issues in capital jury trials did not constitute "newly discovered evidence" to avoid Post Conviction Relief Act time bar where the report's findings did not support a claim that prosecutors in appellant's trial intentionally discriminated against prospective jurors based on race. Order of the PCRA court affirmed.

  • Commonwealth v. Arnold

    Publication Date: 2022-11-14
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Bender
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 38 WDA 2022

    Lack of a mens rea element in a statute did not make a crime a strict liability offense in the absence of statutory language doing away with mens rea, requiring retrial where the trial court failed to instruct the jury on the mens rea element. Judgment of sentence affirmed in part and vacated in part, case remanded for retrial.

  • Commonwealth v. Bieber

    Publication Date: 2022-10-10
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Bender
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 1630 MDA 2021

    Defendant was entitled to a new trial on charges that he violated 18 Pa.C.S. §6106(a) by carrying a firearm without a license where the trial court erred in allowing the jury to hear inadmissible and irrelevant legal opinion testimony from a sheriff which could have contributed to the guilty verdict. The appellate court vacated defendant's judgment of sentence and remanded for a new trial.

  • d'Happart v. First Commonwealth Bank

    Publication Date: 2022-08-22
    Practice Area: Creditors' and Debtors' Rights
    Industry: Financial Services and Banking
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Bender
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 22-0937

    In ruling on defendant's preliminary objections to complaint alleging consumer protection violations related to auto loan, court could take judicial notice of filings in bankruptcy proceedings voluntarily initiated by plaintiffs even though plaintiffs did not raise their bankruptcy in the complaint. Order of the trial court affirmed.

  • Commonwealth v. Smith

    Publication Date: 2022-06-20
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Bender
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 22-0673

    Judgment of sentence reversed where trial court failed to place findings on the record with respect to motion to suppress inculpatory statements where there were material issues regarding the validity of Miranda warnings and what transpired during extended breaks during defendant's questioning. Judgment of sentence vacated, case remanded.

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  • Commonwealth v. Lehman

    Publication Date: 2022-05-30
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Bender
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 22-0597

    Trial court properly excluded admission of victim's rap music videos containing violent lyrics and imagery where defendant failed to allege that he had knowledge of the videos prior to the victim's homicide, or that the videos were autobiographical in nature and therefore reasonably demonstrated the victim's violent nature. Judgment of sentence affirmed.

  • Constantakis v. Bryan Advisory Servs., LLC

    Publication Date: 2022-05-23
    Practice Area: Business Torts
    Industry: Investments and Investment Advisory
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Bender
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 22-0576

    Preliminary injunction requiring filing of amended Financial Industry Regulatory Authority complaint was not unconstitutional where it was not a "prior restraint" and FINRA required amendment upon discovery of new "facts or circumstances." Order of the trial court affirmed in part, reversed in part.

  • Commonwealth v. Hipps

    Publication Date: 2022-05-16
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Bender
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 22-0536

    Post Conviction Relief Act petition alleging ineffective assistance of initial PCRA counsel dismissed as patently untimely, where counsel's ineffectiveness did not constitute a newly-discovered fact that could grant an exception to the PCRA time bar. Order of the PCRA court reversed.

  • Dobransky v. EQT Prod. Co.

    Publication Date: 2022-04-25
    Practice Area: Labor Law
    Industry: Energy
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Bender
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 22-0444

    Defendants were not statutory employers of a truck driver employed by a transportation company contracted by defendants, where the driver was not engaged in the business or services performed by defendants. Summary judgment vacated, case remanded.

  • Commonwealth v. Dinell

    Publication Date: 2022-02-14
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Bender
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 22-0165

    Trial court erred in accepting guilty plea to invasion of privacy charges where defendant expressly denied taking photos of victims for the purposes of arousing or gratifying sexual desire. Judgment of sentence vacated, case remanded.