• Commonwealth v. Purnell

    Publication Date: 2021-10-18
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Baer
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 21-1195

    The trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting a request to have a comfort dog present during the testimony of an autistic minor where it substantially comported with a Connecticut balancing test for guidance in deciding whether to permit the use of comfort animal, i.e., a test the high court adopted herein. The high court affirmed defendant's judgment of sentence.

  • Commonwealth v. Reid

    Publication Date: 2021-10-11
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Baer
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 21-1175

    PCRA matter remanded for PCRA court to issue supplemental opinion where court failed to state the reasons why it denied defendant's claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to litigate defendant's competency to stand trial and his brief self-representation. Order of the PCRA court affirmed in part, remanded in part.

  • In re: The Honorable Stephanie Domitrovich

    Publication Date: 2021-09-13
    Practice Area: Administrative Law
    Industry: Legal Services
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Baer
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 21-1044

    Administrative order issued by president judge to disqualify trial court judge from hearing single-party petitions submitted by the judge's family member was not a final, appealable order but could be reviewed by supreme court under its general supervisory authority. Appeal quashed.

  • Commonwealth v. Cobbs

    Publication Date: 2021-09-06
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Baer
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 21-1012

    Defendant's conviction for assault by a life prisoner and resulting second life sentence could not stand where the lower court had vacated his predicate sentence of life imprisonment based on precedent barring the imposition of life sentences upon juvenile offenders. The high court reversed.

  • Donovan v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.

    Publication Date: 2021-08-30
    Practice Area: Insurance Law
    Industry: Insurance
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Baer
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 21-0991

    Stacking waiver form required by the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law failed to provide sufficient notice that the policyholder was waiving inter-policy stacking in addition to intra-policy stacking where the policy covered multiple vehicles. Matter returned to Third Circuit.

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  • In the Interest of S.K.L.R.

    Publication Date: 2021-08-30
    Practice Area: Family Law
    Industry: State and Local Government
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Baer
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 21-1000

    Superior court erred in reversing trial court's denial of termination of mother's parental rights because superior court exceeded its standard of review and erred in substituting its judgment for that of the trial court. Vacated.

  • McCloskey v. Pennsylvania Pub. Util. Comm'n

    Publication Date: 2021-08-02
    Practice Area: Public Utilities
    Industry: Energy | State and Local Government
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Baer
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 21-0886

    The commonwealth court did not err in holding that a recent Public Utility Code enactment requiring the inclusion of income tax deductions and credits in rate computations required public utilities to revise their distribution system improvement charge calculations to include income tax deductions and credits to reduce rates charged to consumers. The high court affirmed.

  • Wise v. Huntingdon County Housing Dev Corp.

    Publication Date: 2021-05-17
    Practice Area: Personal Injury
    Industry: State and Local Government
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Baer
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 21-0539

    The lower courts erred in holding that plaintiff's claim could not be encompassed within the real estate exception to sovereign immunity where she alleged that insufficient lighting on Commonwealth realty stemming from the existence and location of a light pole, tree and sidewalk created a dangerous condition. The high court reversed and remanded.

  • Gussom v. Teagle

    Publication Date: 2021-04-12
    Practice Area: Civil Procedure
    Industry:
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Baer
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 21-0393

    Plaintiff's failure, in response to defendant's preliminary objection, to present evidence of good faith effort to timely serve process within the time required by the rules or within the statute of limitations, gave the trial court grounds to dismiss the complaint, Order of the superior court affirmed.

  • Linkosky v. Bureau of Driver Licensing

    Publication Date: 2021-04-12
    Practice Area: Administrative Law
    Industry:
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Baer
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:

    Case Number: 21-0404

    Lower courts erred in holding that §1513 of the vehicle code exclusively governed appellee's request for a duplicate camera card and precluded department from checking the national driver register and denying appellee's request because his operating privileges had been suspended in another state. Reversed.