The Pennsylvania General Assembly has spoken, and the Homicide by DUI Law requires a consecutive sentence of three to six years of incarceration for each victim of homicide by DUI. In Commonwealth v. Stemple, 2008 Pa. Super. 1 (2008), the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled that the Homicide by DUI statute requires a sentence of […]
Criminal Lawyer Update: Although Plain View Doctrine May Establish Probable Cause, its Not an Exception to the Warrant Requirement
We all know that the general rule is that police must have a valid search warrant to search or seize objects in a home. In a new case handed down by the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, Commonwealth v. Newton, 2007 Pa. Super. 409 (2007), in an opinion written by Judge Johnson, the Court reaffirms this […]
Will Heads Roll? More on the Destruction of al-Qaeda Interrogation Videotapes by the CIA
Destruction of evidence is never a laughing matter – especially where the evidence is videotapes of harsh interrogation tactics employed by government officials. The latest hype in the CIA’s destruction of videos depicting interrogation of alleged al-Qaeda suspects at Camp Delta includes U.S. District Court Judge Richard W. Roberts ordering the Bush Administration to provide […]
Defendant Cannot Be Convicted of the Crime of Escape if He’s Not in Official Detention First
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania held in a recent opinion that in a pre-arrest situation, a defendant is not in official custody for purposes of the Escape statute where the police officer merely orders the defendant to “stop and get on the ground” during pursuit. The police officer in Commonwealth v. Woody, 2007 Pa. Super. […]
CIA Violates Order Regarding Interrogation Videos
The American Civil Liberties Union had sued the U.S. Department of Defense under the Freedom of Information Act, and pursuant to a court order issued in 2004, the CIA was supposed to preserve videotapes depicting interrogation of supposed al-Queda detainees. However, notwithstanding the court order, the tapes were destroyed in 2005. The judge in the […]