Articles

In Commonwealth v. Stotelmyer, 2015 WL 668038, a three-member controlling plurality of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that imposition of a county intermediate sentence is impermissible where the underlying drug crime conviction carries a mandatory minimum.  At the outset, this case seems difficult to reconcile with existing Pennsylvania court cases addressing the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Alleyne […]

According to recent news reports, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is preparing a new push to have the Pennsylvania state legislature enact legislation requiring that an ignition interlock system be installed in the car of  first-time DUI offenders whose blood alcohol content exceeds .10%.  A similar effort passed unanimously in the State Senate at the tail end […]

This morning, newly-elected Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf temporarily suspended the imposition of the death penalty in the Commonwealth.  This moratorium on executions applies to 186 currently pending death penalty verdicts, as well as any future convictions.  His decision was prompted by the scheduled execution of Terrance Williams, 48, who has been on death row since being […]

The dangers of driving while under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs are no secret and everyone is aware that this conduct is illegal. Many people may not be aware, however, that you can also be charged with DUI for driving under the influence of prescription drugs. 74 Pa.C.S. § 3802(d)(2) addresses this: “(d) […]

In Commonwealth v. O’Neil, 2015 Pa. Super. Lexis 18, a Pennsylvania Superior Court panel held that it was a manifest abuse of discretion for the trial court to deny a defendant’s request for severance from the capital murder trial of her co-defendant, the infamous Dr. Kermit Gosnell, where the bulk of the evidence pertaining to […]