Month: March 2015
In Commonwealth v. Walker, 92 A.3d 766 (2014), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held expert testimony regarding eyewitness identification may be used in criminal court in Pennsylvania. However, the ruling means the trial judge gets to decide whether to allow the testimony at trial. The standard for the…
CASE REVIEW: Commonwealth v. Bavusa, 832 A.2d 1042 (2003). Bavusa is a case that doesn’t make any sense to me, but for some reason, we see it come up all the time in Philadelphia County Criminal Court. The ruling is logically inconsistent, which is surprising because Chief Justice Castille…
When someone is on probation and the person picks up a new arrest, the probation department can order the person be detained. At the outset of detention, the person is entitle to an initial hearing to determine if the person should be held in custody pending…
An off-duty Septa Police Officer named Kevin Fant was caught masturbating on a Septa train in Philadelphia. He was prosecuted, found guilty, and sentenced. The question is what is the crime of masturbating in public and is it a Megan’s Law offense? He was found guilty of…
People ask me all the time, “How to Get a Pardon?” There are manny factors including patience, but four factors stand out to me when I write a pardon applications that carry the day in determining whether my client will get the pardon. The Incident What…
Can I take a picture of Police Making an Arrest? For certain the answer is yes. The issue is what will the police officers do to you once they see you taking the picture, and what remedy you have against the police? There are two separate…
Violent or abusive encounters with law enforcement officers can be traumatizing. Not only do victims suffer injury at the hands of police officers, but often find themselves arrested and stuck in jail for some time afterward. It is not surprising that these encounters can leave victims…
