Homicide by Vehicle While Driving Under the Influence (DUI) is a serious charge in Pennsylvania. The offense carries with it significant legal consequences. Making sure that you have an experienced Pennsylvania DUI attorney by your side is of utmost importance. You don’t want to face the risk of a mandatory minimum sentence alone. Pennsylvania law […]
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 […]
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 […]