Articles

On June 20th, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States decided the case of Utah v. Strieff, holding 5-3 that an officer’s subsequent discovery of an outstanding warrant for a traffic violation excused his unconstitutional stop and search of the defendant and thus evidence obtained through the illegal search could be admitted against the defendant rather […]

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 […]