On June 20, 2016, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in Pennsylvania v. Wolfe, with the opinion authored by Chief Justice Saylor, struck down...
Sentencing
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...
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...
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...
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...
CT’s Death Penalty Law on the Verge of Repeal
Last week, the Connecticut House of Representatives voted 86-63 to repeal its state’s death penalty law. The state Senate passed the...
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 of Pennsylvania Holds Probation Violation Illegal When Original Sentence Illegal
In the recent case of Commonwealth v. Milhomme, 2011 PA Super. 149 (July 21, 2011), the Superior Court of Pennsylvania held that a...
Governor Rendell Attempts a Parole Overhaul
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is attempting to put a plan into motion that would take away violent offenders' ability to be paroled....
What to Know About Pre-Arrest Silence
You have the right to remain silent at any time. In a recent opinion by the Pennsylvania Superior Court, Commonwealth v. Lettau, 2008 Pa....
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