Articles

Last week in a landmark ruling, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found compelled disclosure of a password violative of the defendant’s Fifth Amendment right against self -incrimination. In Commonwealth v. Davis, the Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) executed a lawful search warrant on Davis’ apartment. Davis was being investigated on child pornography charges. Upon examination […]

The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that crimes that lead to loss of the right to possess a gun require a jury trial. In Anderson v. Eighth Judicial District Court, defendant Christopher Anderson was accused of misdemeanor domestic battery. Anderson argued that he was being denied his Sixth Amendment right to a jury by having […]

Under “Deana’s Law,” Pennsylvania lawmakers hope to amend the state vehicle code to increase penalties for repeat DUI offenders. Senate Bill 773, spearheaded by State Sen. Thomas H. Killion (R., Delaware), would require drivers with three or more DUI convictions to wear electronic monitoring devices as a condition of probation. The monitoring devices would regularly […]

On July 17th, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed the Superior Court holding that prosecutors could use a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) suspect’s refusal of a warrantless blood draw as evidence against him at trial. In Commonwealth v. Bell, the defendant was suspected of drunk driving and when transported to the Lycoming County DUI Center, […]

The United States Supreme Court recently addressed the issue of warrantless blood draws in what they describe as a narrow line of drunk driving cases: when the driver is unconscious and therefore cannot be given a breath test. The Court held in Mitchell v. Wisconsin the exigent circumstances doctrine almost always allows a warrantless blood […]