What Happens When a Judge Actually Enforces the 30-Day Pretrial Motion Deadline
Every defense lawyer in Pennsylvania knows the rule. Every defense lawyer in Pennsylvania also knows that in a lot of counties, the rule is not really the rule. Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal…
Eight Issues, Zero Wins — and a Vacated Sentence Anyway: Commonwealth v. Smith
Judge Ruggero Aldisert of the Third Circuit wrote something in 1982 that has been quoted in Pennsylvania appellate opinions ever since. Reflecting on his tenure on the federal bench, he observed that…
Five New Precedential Decisions from the Third Circuit: Guns-for-Drugs, Faretta Waivers, Tax Evasion, and Two Sentencing Holdings
The Third Circuit closed out June with a burst of precedential criminal decisions — five opinions each announcing at least one holding that will matter in federal criminal practice going forward.…
A Body in a Freezer, Years of Stolen Checks — and a Statute of Limitations That Still Expired
Cynthia Black's grandmother died sometime around 2004. Black did not tell anyone. Afraid of losing the Social Security checks that arrived every month in a bank account she shared with her…
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…
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…
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…
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…
What You Say, What You Don't Say, and What the Law Does With Both
Two decisions came down from the Pennsylvania Superior Court on March 27, 2026, and at first glance they don't seem to have much in common. One is a suppression case arising from a traffic stop in…
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's March 2026 Term: Three Decisions Worth Knowing
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court handed down three significant criminal law decisions on March 26, 2026. The most important — by a wide margin — is Commonwealth v. Derek Lee, a ruling that upends…