This week, the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Elonis v. United States, interpreting a federal statute criminalizing threats to injure another, 18 U.S.C. §875(c). Chief Justice Roberts delivered the opinion of the court. Basically, Section 875(c) is silent on the level of intent, or scienter, the government must prove to find a […]
Dog Sniff During Traffic Stop Held Unconstitutional
The following story is one I wrote, which was originally published in the April 2015 edition of Upon Further Review, a publication of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Re-printed here with permission of the Philadelphia Bar Association Sit! Stay! Dog Sniff During Routine Traffic Stop Held Unconstitutional. Brad V. Shuttleworth, Esq. on 4/22/2015″Well, we’ll see how […]
PA Sup. Ct. Refutes Car Search During Illegal Detention
Just a week after the United States Supreme Court suppressed evidence discovered as a result of an dog sniff because police unjustifiably prolonged a traffic stop in Rodriguez v. United States, 575 U.S. _ (Apr. 21, 2014) (see my April 26, 2015 blog post), the PA superior Court in Commonwealth v. Nguyen, 2015 PA Super. 98 […]
SCOTUS Rules GPS Monitoring Constitutes a Search
In Grady v. North Carolina, 575 U.S. __ (2015) (March 30, 2015), the United States Supreme Court has granted certiorari on whether the non-consensual GPS monitoring of a sex offender constitutes an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In granting certiorari, it held that the monitoring program is a search, […]
Criminal Lawyer Update: Pennsylvania Superior Court Rules Most Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Statutes Unconstitutional in Commonwealth v. Newman, 2014 Pa. Super. 178 (Aug. 20, 2014)
In Commonwealth v. Newman, the Pennsylvania Superior Court, ruling unanimously, en banc, holds most mandatory minimums in Pennsylvania unconstitutional as a result of Alleyene v. United States. Defendants in criminal court will no longer have to endure the overwhelming leverage of the Commonwealth’s threat of the imposition of a mandatory-minimum sentence. It’s too early to tell if […]
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