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…
Two New Superior Court Decisions Worth Your Attention: Sufficiency, Corpus Delicti, and What the Commonwealth Has to Prove
Two decisions came down from the Pennsylvania Superior Court in the first week of March 2026, and together they paint an interesting picture of how evidence sufficiency works in criminal cases — and,…
The admissibility of prejudicial interrogator statements, the ability to remove firearms during lawful traffic stops, procedural reminders, and illegal sentencing claims under new Act 44.
Commonwealth v. Malcolm In Commonwealth v. Malcolm, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court considered the propriety of portions of a police interrogation in which detectives repeatedly asserted that they…
Four Recent Superior Court Decisions on Causation, Stops, Jurors, and Sufficiency—and the Limits of Appellate Review
Commonwealth v. Garcia Arse Foreseeability, causation, and the jury’s role Garcia Arse is a clean reminder that causation—particularly foreseeability—is a fact question for the jury, not an…
Being handcuffed outside of a car seemingly undercuts need for protective sweep of car for weapons
Comm. v. Arrington, 2020 PA Super 138 (June 9, 2020) Out of Allegheny County. In a 2-1 opinion, the Superior Court reversed the trial court’s order denying suppression of firearms and drugs…