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  • Commonwealth v. Shaffer

    Publication Date: 2019-07-01
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Baer
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-0757

    Motion to suppress properly denied where child pornography discovered on computer during technician's repair constituted private search. Order of the superior court affirmed.

  • Commonwealth v. Conroy

    Publication Date: 2019-06-17
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Courts of Common Pleas, Monroe County
    Judge: Judge En Banc
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-0604

    Statutory amendments to state law regarding sex offender registration did not affect the punitive nature of the statute, so the court was precluded from holding hearings regarding the designation of sexually violent predators.

  • Commonwealth v. Lippincott

    Publication Date: 2019-04-29
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Murray
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-0485

    SORNA did not apply to sex offender who committed underlying offenses prior to the effective date of SORNA, since SORNA's punitive nature meant that retroactive application would pose an ex post facto violation. Order of the trial court vacated.

  • Commonwealth v. Beish

    Publication Date: 2019-04-29
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Kunselman
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-0481

    The trial court did not deprive defendant of his constitutional due process rights when it found him ineligible for the Recidivism Risk Reduction Incentive program under 61 Pa.C.S. §4503(5) since defendant had no constitutional right or interest in participating in that program. The appellate court affirmed defendant's judgment of sentence.

  • Commonwealth v. Wood

    Publication Date: 2019-04-29
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Murray
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-0484

    Application of SORNA to sex offender constituted an ex post facto violation where offender's underlying offense occurred before the effective date of SORNA. Judgment of sentence vacated.

  • Commonwealth v. Cox

    Publication Date: 2019-04-08
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Mundy
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-0389

    Denial of Atkins claim vacated where PCRA court erroneously relied upon lay family members' failure to intervene as evidence of defendant's lack of functional problems and where PCRA court failed to explain credibility and factual determinations of competing expert testimony. Order of the PCRA court vacated and remanded.

  • Commonwealth v. Adams

    Publication Date: 2019-04-08
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: U.S. District Court for Pennsylvania - Western
    Judge: District Judge Donohue
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-0385

    The courts below erred in finding that defendant's interaction with police did not ripen into an investigative detention prior to the arresting officer detecting indicia of intoxication since an investigatory detention may not be premised upon officer safety.

  • Commonwealth v. Allen

    Publication Date: 2019-04-08
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Evidence
    Industry: State and Local Government
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Stevens
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-0386

    The constable who detained defendant on suspicion of driving under the influence acted within his common law powers to detain defendant based on an in-presence breach of the peace since defendant's conduct - driving at a high rate of speed and going over the embankment while under the influence - constituted a "breach of the peace" as understood at common law. The appellate court affirmed defendant's judgment of sentence.

  • Commonwealth v. Santana

    Publication Date: 2019-03-11
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Superior Court
    Judge: Judge Ott
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-0268

    Application of SORNA to sex offender convicted in 1983 did not constitute ex post facto violation where offender was already subject to lifetime registration in another state when he moved to Pennsylvania and thereby became subject to SORNA's lifetime registration requirement. Judgment of sentence affirmed.

  • City of Philadelphia v. Attorney General of the U.S.

    Publication Date: 2019-03-04
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Immigration Law
    Industry: Federal Government | State and Local Government
    Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
    Judge: Circuit Judge Rendell
    Attorneys: For plaintiff:
    for defendant:
    Case Number: 19-0228

    The U.S. Attorney General exceeded his statutory authority in promulgating immigration-related conditions on funding received by the City of Philadelphia under the Edward Byrne Memorial Assistance Grant Program as Congress did not empower the Attorney General to enact such conditions. The appellate court affirmed in part.