Articles

Although not yet adopted in Pennsylvania, the New Jersey Supreme Court today released amended jury instructions based on the Court’s ruling last year in State v. Henderson, where the Court examined a plethora of research relating to the reliability of eyewitness testimony. The goal of the new instructions is to inform jurors that eyewitness testimony […]

A police officer in the New York Police Department’s 40th Precinct in South Bronx has been accused of trying to kill a witness in a case against him. Stemming from a city-wide ticket fixing investigation that utilized wiretaps and other forms of surveillance, Jose Ramos was accused of committing 24 crimes, including attempted robbery, attempted […]

Jovon Knox, who was convicted of Second Degree Murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for an incident that occurred when he was 17 year old, has had his sentence vacated by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court recently held, in Miller v. Alabama (2012), that a sentence of […]

If you are a teacher at any Pennsylvania school (K-12), an amendment passed to the Pennsylvania School Code may have a significant effect on your employment – if you have been convicted of a misdemeanor of the first degree, a felony, or have driving under the influence convictions. The amendment concerns criminal background checks that […]

Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) was amended on July 5, limiting its retroactivity. Before the amendment, SORNA would require sex offenders to register in a database and notify their community of their status if they would be incarcerated or on parole/probation for any crime on December 20, 2012, even if they were […]