In Commonwealth v. Hawkins, _ A.3d _ (2012), 2012 Pa. Super. 85 (Apr. 12, 2012), the Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed a mandatory-minimum sentence of five years imprisonment for certain drug offenses committed with a firearm under 42 Pa.C.S. Sec. 9712.1. Hawkins’ criminal lawyer argued in this case that the sentencing court should had not […]
Drug Delivery Gun Possession Triggers Mandatory Sentence
Criminal defense work constantly presents criminal lawyers with bad facts coupled with bad law. A new case handed down by the Pennsylvania Superior Court is a prime example of this. The case is Commonwealth v. Stein, 2012 PA Super. 26 (Feb. 7, 2012). The defendant is now serving a five-year mandatory-minimum prison sentence because he […]
ACLU Sues Philadelphia Over Unlawful Stop and Frisk
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported today that the American Civil Liberties Union has sued the City of Philadelphia for illegal stop and frisk policy. Stop and frisk has been around for decades, but, in order to do it, the police need reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot to stop and articulable facts to believe that […]
Inventory Search of a Lawfully-Immobilized Vehicle Holds
In a recent opinion, the Pennsylvania Superior Court held that the inventory search of an immobilized automobile, immobilized under the Live Stop program was a lawful search, even though the automobile was not yet permitted to be towed. If you enjoyed this post, check out this article about criminal defense. Were You Charged with a […]
Commonwealth v. McCoy: If a Tree Falls in the Woods…
I just read a fairly recent opinion authored by Justice Castille, wherein the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that 18 Pa.C.S. Sec. 2707.1 (Discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure) does not include a situation where someone discharges a firearm while inside an occupied structure. In Commonwealth v. McCoy, 962 A.2d 1160 (Pa. 2009), the […]
