Although the Pennsylvania Supreme Court handed down the opinion in Commonwealth v. Arter (Pa. 2016) over three months ago, on December 28, 2016, its importance to Pennsylvania jurisprudence, as it relates to the application of the exclusionary rule for unconstitutional searches and seizures at probation and parole violation hearings, makes it worthwhile to talk about so […]
Pena-Rodrigues v. Colorado: SCOTUS Curbs Racial Bias
In the recent case of Pena-Rodrigues v. Colorado, 580 U.S. _ (2017), the United States Supreme Court held that when a juror makes a clear statement indicating that he or she relied on racial bias in convicting a criminal defendant, the Sixth Amendment requires that the no-impeachment rule yield to permit the trial court to consider […]
Criminal Lawyer Update: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Strikes Down Mandatory Minimum Sentence in Sex Case
On June 20, 2016, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in Pennsylvania v. Wolfe, with the opinion authored by Chief Justice Saylor, struck down the mandatory minimum sentencing provisions of 42 Pa.C.S. § 9718, which mandated for mandatory minimums for certain offenses where the victim is less than 16 years of age. Wolfe involved two convictions for […]
Police Need a Warrant to Search a Personal Computer
On June 5, 2015, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided the case of Commonwealth v. Sodomsky, 2015 PA Super 133 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015), wherein it held that police need a warrant to search a personal computer, even where the computer was not in the possession of the defendant, but at a computer store for servicing. […]
No Interception When iPad Texts Revealed To Police
In Commonwealth v. Diego, 2015 PA Super 143 (Pa. Super. June 23, 2015), the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that text messages sent by the defendant to an informant’s iPad were not intercepted under the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act. To read a PDF of Diego, click here. If you enjoyed this post, check […]
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