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The Legal Intelligencer

Commonwealth v. Lankford, PICS Case No. 17-0948 (Pa. Super. May 30, 2017) Lazarus, J. (11 pages).

Sentence did not violate constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment where it was not grossly disproportionate to convicted crimes, nor would it inhibit defendant's access to allegedly necessary mental health treatment. Judgment of sentence affirmed.
3 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

SAM v. KSM, PICS Case No. 17-0936 (C.P. Lycoming May 30, 2017) McCoy, J. (10 pages).

Husband's failure to make minimum monthly payments on an equitable distribution award constituted contempt, and wife was entitled to judgment for total unpaid installments, plus attorney fees. The issue of double-dipping from the same resource to pay support and the property division payments could have been addressed by a modification proceeding, which husband failed to pursue.
5 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

In the Interest of: C.K., a Minor, PICS Case No. 17-0955 (Pa. Super. June 5, 2017) Strassburger, J. (21 pages).

CYF failed to make reasonable efforts at facilitating permanency plan of reunification where court ordered family trauma therapy and CYF failed to adequately communicate the purpose of the court-ordered therapy to its contracted provider such that children's progress was delayed to due assignment to therapy unqualified to address family's needs. Order of the trial court affirmed.
4 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Commonwealth v. Bond, PICS Case No. 17-0915 (C.P. Lycoming May 30, 2017) Lovecchio, J. (8 pages).

Under the "plain feel doctrine," police had probable cause to arrest defendant where the arresting officer frisked him and detected what he immediately recognized as narcotic packaging hidden in defendant's groin area. The court denied defendant's omnibus pretrial motion to suppress evidence.
3 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Commonwealth v. Hopkins, PICS Case No. 17-0927 (C.P. Lycoming May 10, 2017) Gray, P.J. (7 pages).

In connection with criminal charges for possession of firearms, defendant waived his argument regarding his constitutional right to bear arms by failing to raise it in his pretrial motion. The court denied defendant's motion to dismiss the remaining firearms charges because the trial on the firearms matters was properly severed from the trial on the drug charges.
3 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Atlantic Wind, LLC v. Penn Forest Twp. Zoning Hearing Bd., et al, PICS Case No. 17-0912 (C.P. Carbon May 12, 2017) Serfass, J. (9 pages).

Plaintiff failed to establish that its right to due process was violated by an alleged unsafe environment at a fire hall where the local zoning board held a hearing on a zoning application to construct a wind turbine absent evidence that board members were unable to impartially decide the matter because they felt unsafe. The court recommended that plaintiff's appeal be dismissed.
6 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

In Re Klaas, PICS Case No. 17-0960 (3d Cir. June 1, 2017) Krause, J. (26 pages).

District Court properly affirmed bankruptcy court's granting of a grace period to debtors who made the final payment on their base plan a few weeks after the end of the 60-month period because the bankruptcy court had the discretion under the code to grant a reasonable grace period for debtors to cure an arrearage. Affirmed.
4 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

J.A.F. v. C.M.S., PICS Case No. 17-0957 (Pa. Super. June 1, 2017) Ford Elliott, P.J., (12 pages).

Mother appealed trial court's order denying her petition asserting that a sperm-donor contract existed between her and child's biological father and that father lacked standing in the child custody case but the order she appealed from was not a final order since it was entered in an ongoing child custody proceeding and was not a compete resolution of the pending custody claims. Appeal quashed.
6 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Commonwealth v. Lawrence, PICS Case No. 17-0949 (Pa. Super. May 30, 2017) Stevens, J. (23 pages).

Appellate counsel's concession that the evidence was sufficient to establish a killing with malice constituted a strategic concession and was not ineffective assistance of counsel. Order of the PCRA court affirmed.
3 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

J.M v. K. W., PICS Case No. 17-0958 (Pa. Super. May 31, 2017) Bowes, J. (22 pages).

Trial court properly found mother in contempt for relocating with the children in contravention of an order directing compliance with §5337 but trial court erred in finding her in contempt for enrolling child in preschool because there had been no legal determination of custody and abused its discretion in changing custody as a contempt sanction because there was no express notice that custody would be at issue. Affirmed in part and reversed in part.
3 minute read

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