Commonwealth v. Grajales
The Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that the defendant waived her appellate claims. After the Commonwealth charged DUI and other crimes, the defendant did not file a pretrial omnibus motion. The trial court convicted her, and the defendant appealed. The Superior Court affirmed and held that the defendant could not argue…
The Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that the defendant waived her appellate claims. After the Commonwealth charged DUI and other crimes, the defendant did not file a pretrial omnibus motion. The trial court convicted her, and the defendant appealed. The Superior Court affirmed and held that the defendant could not argue issues about the police officers’… Continue reading Commonwealth v. Grajales
After the defendant was found guilty of DUI, the sentencing court refused to consider one of the defendant’s prior DUIs from Maryland as a triggering offense for an enhanced sentence. The certified record in that case indicated that the defendant had pleaded not guilty and then was sentenced to “probation before judgment.” The Pennsylvania Superior… Continue reading Commonwealth v. Hayes
The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the trial court’s decision, which ordered Nationwide to provide a defense to the parents in an underlying action concerning a young man’s death. The Kramers’ son hosted the decedent in the Kramers’ home while they were out of town. The decedent was found dead, and a coroner determined that the… Continue reading Kramer v. Nationwide Prop. and Cas. Ins. Co.
Three men formed three partnerships to own and operate Section 8 apartment buildings. The partner who was primarily responsible for the management of the properties died. The remaining two could not decide who was in charge. This litigation ensued. First, the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that one partner violated the partnership agreement by acting unbusinesslike… Continue reading Slomowitz v. Kessler
The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the denial of the defendant’s suppression motion, though the Court questioned the validity of the phrase “mere encounter”. Two police officers saw the defendant walking on the sidewalk and noted an L-shaped bulge in his right jacket pocket. One officer immediately recognized that bulge as a firearm. Thus, the officer… Continue reading Commonwealth v. Jones
An en banc panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the lawfulness of the defendant’s arrest and the denial of his suppression motion. A police officer saw the defendant seated in the driver’s seat of a car. The officer recognized the defendant and the vehicle from a prior arrest. The officer radioed police dispatch, which… Continue reading Commonwealth v. Heidelberg
The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed an order from the Court of Common Pleas granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants in this commercial landlord-tenant dispute. But this opinion is less a lesson on landlord-tenant law and more one on legal writing. The tenant filed suit against its landlord when water damaged the tenant’s property.… Continue reading Keystone Specialty Services Co. v. Ebaug
The Pennsylvania Superior Court addressed the appointment of a receiver pursuant to 15 Pa.C.S. § 8682(d)(2) in a partnership dissolution dispute. There was little dispute about the trial court’s decision to appoint a receiver. That court found a sufficient basis to support the good cause requirement to appoint a receiver because the defendant was dissolving… Continue reading Ratner v. Iron Stone Real Estate Fund, I, L.P.
The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed a former juvenile lifer’s sentence in the defendant’s third direct appeal. The Court remanded the case after the defendant’s first two appeals, finding the trial court abused its discretion when the court sentenced the defendant. In this appeal, the defendant’s primary argument was that the trial court imposed a de… Continue reading Commonwealth v. Moye
The Pennsylvania Superior Court once again found itself playing referee in a toxic family fight. The Court affirmed the lower court’s order awarding a father therapeutic supervised partial physical custody of his three minor children. In 2016, the father filed a petition to modify a custody order to exercise supervised partial physical custody with the… Continue reading K.D. v. E.D.