Articles

In Commonwealth v. Shwarz , 1847 EDA 2012 (July 15, 2014), the Pennsylvania Superior Court granted a new trial to an appellant who argued the trial court judge exhibited bias against him. The appellant, a Philadelphia police officer, faced charges of official oppression and related offenses, and was convicted by a jury. On appeal, the appellant argued that the trial judge […]

The usage of cell phones has made it easier than ever for us to be tracked.  Even if a phone has been destroyed, it may have left behind evidence that investigators can use to piece together where it, and its owner, have been. Whenever a phone call is made, there is a two-way communication between […]

In Riley v. California, 537 U.S. __ (2014), a surprisingly unanimous 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court added additional privacy protection to American’s cell phones.  Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Roberts held that police need a warrant to search the cell phone of someone who is under arrest.  This result greatly pleased privacy activists, who […]

Since the founding of the FBI in 1908, the Department of Justice has refused to audiotape or videotape interviews with criminal suspects.  Federal agencies gave a variety of reasons for refusing to do so.  For example, an internal FBI memo argued that jurors would be offended if they saw the psychological tricks agents used to […]

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently reversed longstanding precedent that held that experts could not render opinions about the validity of eyewitness identifications.  Now, after the courts recent 4-2 decision in Commonwealth v. Walker, that type of evidence is now admissible if the trial Judge, in her discretion, chooses to permit it.  This decision brings Pennsylvania back […]