You have the “right to keep and bear arms” . . . until you don’t.
The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution speaks of “the right of the people to keep and bears Arms, shall not be infringed.” In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has had the…
Pennsylvania Supreme Court deals a blow to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) using separate and independent state-law grounds.
Today, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its opinion in Commonwealth v. Muniz, ___ A.3d ___ (Pa. July 19, 2016), which addressed the issue of whether the Sex Offender Registration and…
That’s hearsay!: The excited-utterance exception
This short post is the third installment on the topic of hearsay. Specifically, addressed here is the second of the 16 hearsay exceptions known as the excited-utterance exception. The exception is…
The many ways to lose your driver’s license and the repercussions that follow
A driver’s license is a privilege, not a right. But it is an indispensable privilege, one that enables us to commute to work (to make a living) and to remain socially connected with one another.…
Professionals beware: there’s direct consequences then there’s collateral consequences.
Any person accused of committing a crime will face certain consequences if convicted. It may be a fine, probation, or the loss of liberty. These are called direct consequences. Aside from direct…
That’s hearsay!: The present-sense-impression exception
This post follows up to my initial post of March 30, 2017 on the topic of hearsay. In this short post, I discuss the first of what Pennsylvania recognizes as 16 exceptions to hearsay. That is, in…
A win from the Pa. Supreme Court for unrepresented prisoners
Last week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided Commonwealth v. Burton, ____ A.3d ____, 2017 WL 1149203 (Pa., Mar. 28, 2017). The case involved what is known as the “public-record presumption.”…
That's hearsay!
Chances are we’ve all heard someone say, “That’s hearsay!” Perhaps we’re guilty ourselves of expressing an opinion on the matter. But frequently what “hearsay” really is is misunderstood—even by…
The Statute of Limitations for Criminal Offenses
Most have heard of the term “statute of limitations.” And probably when most people think of the term they jokingly associate it with the thought of how much time they must pass before being cleared…
“What am I looking at?” The question of sentencing.
When I meet clients facing criminal charges, the number one question I almost always get is: “What am I looking at?” Sentencing is the pressing question on the minds of any person accused of…