Parole interviews/reviews and parole violation hearings are still being held for inmates/parolees in Pennsylvania state correctional facilities. However, as Monday, March 23rd, all parole hearings at county correctional facilities...
How Long Will People Have to Wait to Defend Themselves in a PFA Hearing Now That Courts are Closed by the Coronavirus?
March 23, 2020
The spread of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, is impacting nearly every segment of American life. One of the casualties has been the court system in Philadelphia, which has closed to all non-essential matters. Even the cases that...
Bail is one of the most underappreciated aspects of the criminal justice process in Philadelphia. It will determine whether a defendant has to stay in jail until their trial, or if they can go home and live their life until their...
Business owners in Philadelphia and the surrounding area are facing lots of uncertainty in the wake of Governor Tom Wolf’s announcement that all bars and restaurants in five local counties would be forced to close their...
As the coronavirus sweeps across the U.S. and the government struggles to contain it, widespread shutdowns have become the norm. While large social gatherings have taken the biggest hit, courts have been shuttered in some states,...
A prior conviction for driving under the influence (DUI) can be a difficult blemish to have on your criminal background. It can get in the way of finding a new job and can lead to some awkward conversations with people...
A nolo contendere plea is something that is very similar to a guilty plea, but with one crucial difference: You’re not admitting to any wrongdoing. That nuance is extremely important because it can protect people...
What Happens if an Innocent Bystander is Killed or Hurt? The Doctrine of Transferable Intent
March 5, 2020
The law in Pennsylvania cares more about the fact that you wanted to commit a violent crime and then affirmatively acted on that intent, than the fact that the person you wanted to hurt escaped free from harm. Perhaps...
Like many other states, Pennsylvania has what is known as a rape shield law. This statute restricts the types of evidence that a criminal defendant can use when they are accused of a variety of offenses, but is especially...
Out of all of the criminal offenses on the books in Pennsylvania, the white-collar crime of fraud is perhaps the most complicated. There are so many ways that fraud can happen, and because fraud requires...
Why Did Four Congressmen Vote Against an Anti-Lynching Act?
February 28, 2020
Congress recently passed a bill that made it a federal crime to lynch someone. The bill, which was largely symbolic given the fact that existing law already covered lynching, passed the House of Representatives by a vote of...
Does Pennsylvania Have a Romeo and Juliet Law?
February 27, 2020
Pennsylvania does have a “Romeo and Juliet” law, carving out an exception to the crime of statutory sexual assault for young adults who are close in age to each other. The exception is not a trivial one: Without a...
Why Was a Time-Barred Rape Allegation Allowed in the Weinstein Trial?
February 22, 2020
An interesting piece of the Harvey Weinstein trial has been the inclusion of testimony from an alleged victim who claims she was raped in 1993 or 1994. Prosecutors admit that the incident is beyond the scope of...
Even though the Fourth Amendment was ratified in 1792, courts in the U.S. are still debating over what it really means. One of the trickier aspects is what constitutes a “seizure.” The definition matters because the...
Weinstein’s Defense: Sexual Encounters Were Consensual Because They Were Transactional
February 20, 2020
The rape trial of Harvey Weinstein has come to a conclusion. Both sides have presented their arguments, leaving it up to a jury to decide whether the powerful film producer abused his power to extract nonconsensual...
How Can You Prove That You Did Not Intend to Keep Allegedly Stolen Property, Forever?
February 17, 2020
To be liable for theft in Pennsylvania, defendants have to intend to keep the property they allegedly took. This creates an important opportunity for a criminal defense lawyer to raise some strong legal...
Is There an Involuntary Intoxication Defense in Pennsylvania?
February 13, 2020
In our last blog post, we detailed the voluntary intoxication defense in Pennsylvania. While somewhat rare, that defense argues that a criminal defendant cannot be liable for a crime because they were too intoxicated to be...
How Does the Voluntary Intoxication Defense Work in Pennsylvania?
February 11, 2020
Even though drinking alcohol or taking drugs can make people do things that they would not otherwise do, being drunk or high is almost never a defense to a crime. In fact, Pennsylvania has a law that specifically prohibits...
Can Crimes of Moral Turpitude Prevent Someone from Getting a License or Professional Certification?
February 4, 2020
Crimes of moral turpitude are notoriously vague and difficult to define. Nevertheless, they are regularly used to determine the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction. For example, a crime of moral turpitude...
Many criminal defendants see probation as a Get Out of Jail Free card. And while this is correct in one sense – defendants sentenced to probation, quite literally, do not have to go to jail – probation does not mean...