When the Commonwealth Keeps Your Property Without Ever Forfeiting It: In re Smith and the De Facto Forfeiture Problem
Say the police seize your lawfully owned firearm during an arrest. The charges get dismissed. You file the motion you're supposed to file to get your property back. And the Commonwealth — without…
What a ShotSpotter Alert Can — and Can't — Justify: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court Decides Foster
When a microphone on a city utility pole reports gunfire, and a police officer shows up moments later and finds someone standing nearby, can the officer stop that person? That is, roughly, the…
Three From the Superior Court in One Day: Another Probation Win, a Lesson on Commonwealth Appeals, and a Burglary Question That Wasn't Close
On May 20, 2026, the Superior Court handed down three precedential decisions in criminal cases. They don't share a common theme — one is about probation revocation, one is about when the Commonwealth…
Two Reminders That Preliminary Hearing Errors Rarely Survive a Conviction
Two recent Superior Court decisions, both published the same week, illustrate how hard it is to win an appellate or post-conviction issue rooted in something that happened — or did not happen — at…
When Is a 36-Second Restraint a Crime? The Superior Court's Divided Answer in Evans
How long does a restraint have to last before it becomes the crime of false imprisonment? Pennsylvania's false imprisonment statute does not say. It speaks instead of conduct that interferes…
No Nexus, No Condition: Seiden and the Limits of Probation in Pleaded-Down Cases
A defendant gets charged with a stack of sex offenses. He pleads guilty to a single non-sexual count of endangering the welfare of children. The Commonwealth withdraws everything else, including the…
When the Juvenile Clock Runs Out: Ulysse and the Limits of the Juvenile Act
What happens when a juvenile case begins in juvenile court but never finishes there — and the defendant ages out before anyone can sort out what to do next? That is the question the Superior Court…
"Malice Is Malice": The Pennsylvania Supreme Court Closes the Door on a DUI-Specific Malice Standard
When does drunk driving become murder? That question has lingered in Pennsylvania law for decades, mostly because two of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's prior decisions — Commonwealth v. O'Hanlon…
When the Commonwealth Wants to Walk Away: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court Reaffirms Reinhart in Commonwealth v. Harrison
Most criminal cases end the way you'd expect — with a plea, a verdict, or a dismissal at the preliminary hearing. But sometimes a prosecutor decides, after charges are filed and held for court, that…
How Long Is "Not Less Than 60 Days"? The Superior Court En Banc Rewrites DUS Sentencing
In Commonwealth v. Lee, 2026 PA Super 85, the en banc Superior Court held—over a careful dissent—that the sentencing language in 75 Pa.C.S. § 1543(b)(1)(i), which says a person convicted of driving…