Today a Magisterial District Judge held all charges for trial against Bill Cosby on the strength of nothing more than hearsay testimony. The victim did not even have to show up to Court. Last year, in the case of Commonwealth v. Ricker, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania held that a prima facie case may be […]
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Sixth Amendment Right to Choose Counsel Violated When Government Froze Defendant’s Assets
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 […]
Primer on Pennsylvania’s Stand Your Ground Laws
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 […]
New Guidelines for Witness Identification
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 […]
Defendant Violated PFA by Texting Protected Party About Property Settlement
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 […]
