Firm News

The PA Superior Court has recently decided that a defendant's right to a fair trial and due process of law is violated when a prosecutor is permitted to suggest that the defendant’s pre-arrest efforts to retain an attorney are consistent with guilt.   Lang was...

  Today, the PA Superior Court held that when a driver drives with any marijuana or its metabolites in their blood, they can be charged with DUI because all marijuana, including medical marijuana, remains a Schedule I controlled substance for the purpose of DUI...

In June of 2020, stores throughout the United States were experiencing an increase in looting due to social unrest. It was during this time that police became aware of a social media post on Facebook made by a juvenile, E.L.W. wherein she stated, “We looting Walmart...

The PA Superior Court has recently held that “marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance under current Pennsylvania law and, therefore, the Commonwealth is not required to prove that the marijuana in an individual’s bloodstream is non-medical marijuana for...

The PA Supreme Court has held that although the prosecutor acted with discriminatory intent to peremptorily strike an African American juror, such conduct did not amount to intentional or reckless misconduct sufficient to invoke the double jeopardy protections of...

The PA Superior Court recently held that the parent of an adult child who lives in a separate residence did not have apparent authority to consent and allow police to make a warrantless entry into the child's home.   Troy David Lehnherd was driving his truck and...

John Aumick filed an appeal from the trial court’s collateral civil finding designating him a sexually violent predator (SVP) under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), thereby making him subject to lifetime registration requirements.  ...

Today, the Superior Court vacated Appellant’s Judgment of Sentence and remanded his case for a new trial after holding that it was ineffective assistance of counsel for trial counsel to advise Appellant against testifying based solely out of concern that Appellant’s...

The PA Commonwealth Court recently held that the possession of a medical marijuana card does not permit a driver to refuse to submit to a blood test requested by a police officer who has reasonable grounds to believe that the driver was driving under the influence of...

IS THE MERE ENCOUNTER A MERE FICTION? To any lawyer practicing criminal law in the Commonwealth of PA, it should not be news that courts are often asked to analyze interactions between law enforcement officers and citizens to determine whether the interaction resulted...