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 […]
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 […]
PA Sup. Ct. Addresses Drug Dealing with a Firearm Sentences
The case is Commonwealth v. Hanson, _ A.3d _ (2013), 2013 WL 6831854 (Pa. Supreme Ct., Dec. 27, 2013). The opinion is written by Justice Saylor. And, the application of a gun plus drug dealing mandatory minimum is overruled, because a defendant must be in knowing, physical possession or control, which is constructive control, an […]
United States Supreme Court Rules that Facts Triggering Mandatory-Minimum Sentences Are Elements of a Criminal Offense in Alleyne v. United States
The following story was originally published in the July 2013 edition of Upon Further Review, a publication of the Philadelphia Bar Association. United States Supreme Court Rules that Facts Triggering Mandatory-Minimum Sentences Are Elements of a Criminal Offense in Alleyne v. United States Brad V. Shuttleworth, Esq. on 07/18/2013 In 2000, the United States Supreme […]
PA Sup. Ct. Rules on Juvenile Life Without Parole
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in Commonwealth v. Batts (March 26, 2013), ruled that the trial court unlawfully sentenced a juvenile to a mandatory sentence of life without parole, applying the United States Supreme Court opinion in Miller v. Alabama and new Pennsylvania law on juvenile sentencing in murder cases. This is a must read for […]