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  • Commonwealth v. Anderson

    Publication Date: 2019-12-16
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Bowes
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-1438

    The trial court did not impose a de facto life imprisonment sentence without the possibility of parole upon defendant, who was a juvenile when he committed murder, where he failed to establish that it was unlikely he would survive until his minimum release date or that there was no opportunity for release in such time as to permit him to enjoy a period of liberty. The appellate court affirmed defendant's sentence.

  • Commonwealth v. Cruz

    Publication Date: 2019-12-02
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Musmanno
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-1394

    Where defendant relied on, as newly discovered evidence, a specific letter to him from investigators indicating that mistakes were made in the analysis of forensic evidence offered at his criminal trial, rather than an earlier and more general press release announcing such mistakes, the lower court erred in dismissing as untimely his Post Conviction Relief Act petition.

  • Commonwealth v. Kirwan

    Publication Date: 2019-10-28
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Ott
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-1258

    Defendant, who was designated a sexually violent predator, was not eligible for relief under the Post Conviction Relief Act since only the sanctions of imprisonment, probation and parole are "sentences" for eligibility purposes under the act. The appellate court affirmed defendant's judgment of sentence.

  • Commonwealth v. Meredith

    Publication Date: 2019-10-28
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Stevens
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-1259

    The trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding the victim's teenage son competent to testify as a witness since the issue of whether he had the ability to correctly recall the events at issue was a question of credibility for the jury. The appellate court affirmed defendant's judgment of sentence.

  • Commonwealth v. Johnson

    Publication Date: 2019-10-28
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Kunselman
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-1257

    Defendant's former prosecution for driving with a suspended license occurred before a court that lacked jurisdiction over another offense of possession of heroin with intent to deliver; thus, the court of common pleas could properly assert its separate, original jurisdiction over that charge under 18 Pa.C.S. §112. The appellate court affirmed defendant's judgment of sentence.

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  • Commonwealth v. Diggs

    Publication Date: 2019-10-21
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Bowes
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-1226

    The trial court did not err in dismissing defendant's petition for relief under the Post Conviction Relief Act as untimely where defendant's alleged newly discovered evidence could have been obtained at or prior to trial through reasonable diligence. The appellate court affirmed.

  • Commonwealth v. Caulk

    Publication Date: 2019-10-21
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Stabile
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-1228

    The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's motion to preclude evidence of the death of a confidential informant and, instead, accommodated the needs of both parties by allowing the jury to hear evidence of the CI's death but not the cause. The appellate court affirmed defendant's judgment of sentence.

  • Commonwealth v. Williams

    Publication Date: 2019-10-21
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Lazarus
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-1233

    Although statements made in custody prior to Miranda warnings were inadmissible, trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to suppress those statements where defendant suffered no prejudice from their admission due to other, properly-introduced evidence of defendant's guilt, including the victims' testimony identifying defendant as a perpetrator. Order of the PCRA court affirmed.

  • Commonwealth v. Kearns

    Publication Date: 2019-10-21
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Gantman
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-1230

    Imposition of a sex offender registration requirement did not breach a plea agreement when existing law's requirement of registration for the offense at issue in the agreement meant that sex offender registration was an implied term of any agreement that did not expressly provide for non-registration. Order of the trial court affirmed.

  • Commonwealth v. Knecht

    Publication Date: 2019-09-30
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge McLaughlin
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-1135

    The "retroactive right" timeliness exception did not apply to defendant's untimely PCRA petition since neither the state's high court nor the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the right at issue, application of Pennsylvania's Sex Offender Registration Act as interpreted in Commonwealth v. Muniz, applied retroactively. The appellate court affirmed the denial of post-conviction relief and granting counsel's petition to withdraw.