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  • Commonwealth v. Kemp

    Publication Date: 2018-09-18
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Stabile
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 18-1071

    The trial court did not err in denying defendant's motion to suppress evidence seized from his residence where the drug transactions at issue did not take place in or near his residence, as the facts connected the illegal transactions to defendant's residence in a common-sense way and permitted the issuing authority to conclude that drugs would likely be found there. The appellate court affirmed defendant's judgment of sentence.

  • Commonwealth v. Vucich

    Publication Date: 2018-09-18
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Bowes
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 18-1070

    The trial court erred in admitting two photographs of the victim of defendant's sexual abuse taken when the crimes allegedly occurred since defendant did not contest that the victim was a child when the alleged abuse occurred; however, any prejudice was de minimis and, thus, harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The appellate court affirmed defendant's judgment of sentence.

  • Commonwealth v. Fernandez

    Publication Date: 2018-09-18
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Panella
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 18-1099

    Pursuant to the state high court's 2017 decision in Commonwealth v. Muniz, the trial courts could not impose retroactively upon defendants the increased registration requirements in the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, regardless of whether defendants accepted plea bargains or were convicted at trial. The appellate court reversed trial court orders imposing increased sexual offender registration requirements.

  • Moss v. SCI- Mahanoy Superintendent

    Publication Date: 2018-09-11
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry: State and Local Government
    Court: Commonwealth Court
    Judge: Judge Covey
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 18-1085

    Trial court properly denied inmate's habeas petition asserting the board improperly detained him when it lodged a detainer against him that prevented his release on bail after he was arrested on new criminal charges because the board did not admit his averments, aggregation of consecutive sentences was automatic and mandatory, parole was not automatic and his challenge to the sentence imposed more than 20 years earlier was untimely. Affirmed.

  • Commonwealth v. Clancy

    Publication Date: 2018-09-04
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Wecht
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 18-1056

    The prosecutor's characterization of defendant as a "dangerous man" and a "cold blooded killer" constituted permissible, if aggressive, oratorical flair in the context of this case: therefore, defense counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to the remarks. The high court affirmed an order denying defendant post-conviction relief.

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  • Commonwealth v. Irick

    Publication Date: 2018-08-21
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge McLaughlin
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 18-0972

    The court of common pleas lacked jurisdiction to grant defendant's motion to suppress evidence, which motion the municipal court had denied, since a criminal defendant facing trial in municipal court may only petition for certiorari after sentencing. The court vacated and remanded.

  • Commonwealth v. Thomas

    Publication Date: 2018-08-21
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Stevens
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 18-0969

    The trial court did not err in admitting evidence of defendant's time in prison with a key commonwealth witness, as this challenged evidence was relevant for the limited purposes of explaining the witness's recantation of his prior testimony and revealing defendant's consciousness of guilt. The appellate court affirmed defendant's judgment of sentence.

  • Ceraul v. Gilmore et al

    Publication Date: 2018-08-21
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: U.S. District Court for Pennsylvania - Eastern
    Judge: District Judge Pappert
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 18-0971

    Given the overwhelming evidence of defendant's guilt, which evidence corroborated the victim's account, defendant's claim that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to impeach the victim regarding the exact dates of the criminal conduct did not raise a substantial likelihood that the jury would have reached a different result. The court overruled defendant's objections in part.

  • Commonwealth v. Strafford

    Publication Date: 2018-08-21
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Dubow
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 18-0973

    Addressing an issue of first impression, the appellate court concluded that defendant's lifetime registration requirement authorized by the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act did not constitute an illegal sentence as the legislature did not limit the authority of a court to impose registration requirements only within the maximum allowable term of incarceration. The appellate court affirmed defendant's judgment of sentence.

  • Commonwealth v. Butler

    Publication Date: 2018-08-14
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge McLaughlin
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 18-0943

    The trial court properly found that police demonstrated reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot based in part on information received from an informant who implicated himself in criminal activity when he told police he would drive his son to purchase heroin from two individuals. The appellate court affirmed defendant's judgment of sentence.