Defense or Immunity? To know the law or not know the law? De Facto Life Sentence or not?
Comm. v. Markun, 2018 PA Super 104 (May 1, 2018) Appeal out of Delaware County. This is the second reported decision this year on the Drug Overdose Response Act, 35 P.S. § 780-113.7. In this en…
The Superior Court has been busy.
Comm. v. Bowers, 2018 PA Super 88 (Apr. 16, 2018) Appeal out of the 39th Judicial District, Franklin County Branch. The Superior Court held that an appeal from an order granting the Commonwealth’s…
The Self-Represented Defendant's Limits in Confronting Witnesses
This was an appeal out of Lackawanna County. Patrick Tighe represented himself at trial against the the most serious of sex-offense charges. Clearly, little more needs to be said of how the result…
Trial courts must follow the rules, too.
This was an appeal out of Jefferson County. The gist of the underlying facts and history leading up to this appeal is this: this was a local code enforcement case that got out of control and…
Sufficiency of Evidence and Probable Cause
Comm. v. Gorman, 2018 PA Super 73 (Mar. 28, 2018) This was an appeal out of Allegheny County. Gorman proceeded to a bench trial on three charges: theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen…
Missteps, Translators, and Exigencies
Comm. v. Giles, 2018 PA Super 63 (Mar. 20, 2018) This was an appeal out of Allegheny County. Giles had been convicted by a jury of several sex offenses, prime among them being rape of a child. The…
A complex issue: Credit for time served.
In the past four days, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has issued two opinions that deal with the issue of how to award credit for time spent incarcerated before sentencing or resentencing. The one…
The Important Role of Defense Counsel
This appeal was an appeal out of Allegheny County. The issue in this case revolved around disparaging remarks made against defense counsel in a victim’s letter, which was sent to the sentencing…
Authenticating social media evidence
This appeal was a Commonwealth appeal out of Erie County. The opinion is a lengthy one, and it deals with an evidentiary issue of authentication of evidence. Specifically, the question at issue was…
Comm. v. Fitzpatrick, 2018 PA Super 55 (Mar. 14, 2018)
This appeal was an appeal out of Philadelphia. On August 14, 2015, a judgment of sentence had been entered against Fitzpatrick after a jury had convicted him of first-degree murder and third-degree…