Articles

After finding last year that nearly all hair examiners in FBI forensics units had overstated testimony regarding hair matches, which have incriminated defendants in criminal trials over the last several decades, the Justice Department just recently proposed the first department-wide standards for expert testimony. These standards will seek to ensure that forensic experts within the […]

The advent of smartphones and their ever-increasing capabilities has brought with it extremely high levels of distracted driving, and consequently, a higher frequency of accidents. Texting, music, and even navigation applications cause drivers to look down at their phones for significant periods of time rather than keep their eyes on the road, and this distracted […]

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 […]

On Wednesday, May 18th, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a new law requiring all convicted drunk drivers with a BAC of .10 or higher to use an ignition interlock system in their car for a year. Before this law, only those with multiple DUI convictions were required to use these systems. Ignition interlock systems require […]

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 […]