Articles

On March 30th, the Supreme Court decided the case of Luis v. United States, holding that pretrial restraint of a defendant’s legitimate, lawfully obtained assets was a violation of the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to retain counsel of choice. At issue in the case was a federal statute allowing the government to freeze a defendant’s […]

The law generally allows people to use force against others in situations like self-defense or defense of others. While people traditionally had a duty to try to retreat from a threat to their safety before using force against the aggressor, Pennsylvania has incorporated some of the ideas behind “Stand Your Ground” laws, which do away […]

On April 12th, the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association introduced new guidelines in an attempt to make eyewitness identifications of alleged perpetrators more accurate and reliable. The association aimed to achieve this goal through its endorsement of the use of simultaneous photo arrays. These arrays will include photos of the suspect, along with photos of other […]

On April 11th, 2016, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania decided the case of Commonwealth v. Taylor, holding in a 5-3 decision that a defendant’s communications with his ex-wife, who was protected by a PFA, regarding the settlement of a property were not for legitimate issues regarding their children, and consequently constituted indirect criminal contempt violations […]

On March 30th, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania decided Commonwealth v. Thompson, holding that the Commonwealth cannot establish that it exercised “due diligence” in seeking a defendant’s presence at trial by simply presenting testimony that it was standard practice in the DA’s Office to issue writs to secure the presence of defendants. On December 4th, […]