Articles

The Pennsylvania Superior Court just decided the case of Akim Sharif Jones-Williams, finding that police must have a warrant or valid exception to the warrant requirement to request a blood draw of a DUI driver who is fading in and out of consciousness. The warrant requirement is clear. Police can only avoid getting a search […]

The Montgomery County PA Court of Common Pleas recently announced the implementation of a Pretrial Services Program in criminal cases. The program will be responsible for making bail recommendations and setting treatment requirements for those involved with addictions. The Court is also looking at setting up a “risk assessment tool” which would provide judges with […]

Pennsylvania’s criminal defense lawyers have fought a long and arduous battle against the notion that a Preliminary Hearing wherein a police officer testifies to what various witnesses told him satisfies due process. Having been dragged to the very bottom of this slippery slope, and watched Preliminary Hearings take place without a single witness with first-hand […]

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court just struck down Lebanon County’s ban on the use of medical marijuana by people who are on probation. Many other Pennsylvania counties, including Montgomery County, have the same rule, so the decision will have a significant impact. The Court’s reasoning was that the legislature has permitted medical marijuana so the probation […]

We’ve been arguing for a good period of time that it is unconstitutional for Pennsylvania’s prosecutors to invoke subsequent offender penalties for DUI drivers who previously were granted ARD for a prior DUI. ARD is a program for first offenders that removes the jail penalties and dramatically reduces or eliminates applicable driver’s license suspensions. Many […]