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The Legal Intelligencer

Commonwealth v. Muniz, PICS Case No. 17-1251 (Pa. July 19, 2017) Dougherty, J.; Saylor, C.J., dissenting. (85 pages).

Retroactive application of SORNA's registration provisions violated the Ex Post Facto Clauses of the federal and Pennsylvania Constitutions because the registration provisions constituted punishment as the requirements were akin to tradition forms of punishment like probation or parole. Order of the superior court reversed.
4 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Commonwealth v. Smith, PICS Case No. 17-1253 (Pa. Super. July 24, 2017) Dubow, J. (19 pages).

Ineffective assistance of counsel claim for failure to challenge competency of minor victim witness failed where defendant could not demonstrate prejudice since there was no allegation that victim was incompetent nor could defendant prove that trial court would have sustained objection to competency. Order of the PCRA court affirmed.
4 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Commonwealth v. Domek, PICS Case No. 17-1247 (Pa. Super. July 21, 2017) Bowes, J. (11 pages).

Court ruled that evidence was not so overwhelming as to establish that the jury would have also convicted defendant under the proper mens rea standard and thus appellant established trial counsel's ineffectiveness had an adverse impact on outcome. Order of the PCRA court reversed.
3 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Commonwealth v. Shabezz, PICS Case No. 17-1249 (Pa. July 19, 2017) Wecht, J.; Mundy, J., concurring. (21 pages).

Passenger in a vehicle unconstitutionally seized by police entitled to suppression of all evidence found in the vehicle, rather than just the areas of the vehicle where the passenger had a reasonable expectation of privacy, where the search of the vehicle stemmed from the passenger's illegal seizure. Order of the superior court affirmed.
7 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Commonwealth v. Robinson, PICS Case No. 17-1252 (Pa. Super. July 19, 2017) Dubow, J. (12 pages).

Six criminal contempt convictions arising from a single courtroom hearing did not violate double jeopardy where each conviction was preceded by a separate contemptuous act, despite the acts' temporal proximity and allegedly singular motivation. Judgment of sentence affirmed.
3 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Commonwealth v. Green, PICS Case No. 17-1248 (Pa. Super. July 24, 2017) Bowes, J. (13 pages).

Trial counsel was ineffective for failing to consult with defendant about an appeal, since counsel established such a duty by specifically preserving an issue for appeal that a reasonable defendant would want to pursue where success on appeal could result in dismissal of charges. Order of the PCRA court reversed, case remanded.
6 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Commonwealth v. Cullen-Doyle, PICS Case No. 17-1250 (Pa. July 20, 2017) Saylor, C.J.; Todd, J., dissenting. (13 pages).

Present conviction on a single count of burglary did not render offender ineligible for RRRI, where the statute's focus on "history" of violent offenses indicated it only intended to exclude career offenders less likely to benefit from RRRI program. Order of the superior court reversed.
3 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Commonwealth v. Bush, PICS Case No. 17-1242 (Pa. Super July 19, 2017) Stevens, J.; Shogan and Stevens, J.J., concurring (25 pages).

Police had probable cause to stop defendant's vehicle for a possible violation of the Motor Vehicle Code where a state trooper observed defendant operating his vehicle with its high beams on within 500 feet of the trooper's approaching cruiser, even though the roadway was divided by a concrete barrier. The court affirmed defendant's judgment of sentence.
6 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Commonwealth v. Storey, PICS Case No. 17-1255 (Pa. Super. July 20, 2017) Lazarus, J. (15 pages).

Trial court properly denied appellant's motion for a new trial after he was convicted for drug delivery resulting in death, possession with intent to deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of controlled substance because his constitutional challenge to 18 Pa. C.S.A. §2506 failed, there was sufficient evidence that the heroin he sold caused the addict's death, trial court gave adequate cautionary and jury instructions and prosecution's reference to user's credibility in its closing argument was in response to comments by the defense in its closing argument. Affirmed.
6 minute read

New York Law Journal

The People v. Sieger Agency Inc.

Real Estate Agency Denied Dismissal of Code Violation; Statute Found Constitutional
2 minute read

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