Opinion Summaries
At Sullivan | Simon, we read and summarize every precedential opinion from all of the state appellate courts in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Pennsylvania Superior Court vacated the defendant’s first-degree murder conviction and ordered a new trial. The Commonwealth charged the defendant with homicide, alleging he killed a man’s grandmother in retaliation for stealing the defendant’s chain. The Commonwealth filed a Pre-Trial Motion in which it sought to introduce prior bad acts evidence pursuant to Pa.R.E. 404(b).… Continue reading Commonwealth v. Green
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court clarified the scope the Secretary of Education must employ when assessing whether a municipality may move its territory from one school district to another. Here, the citizens of Highspire Borough petitioned to leave the Steelton-Highspire School District and be absorbed into the Middletown Area School District. The Secretary of Education bore… Continue reading In re Appeal for Formation of Indep. Sch. Dist. Consisting of Highspire
In a remarkable order, the New Jersey Supreme Court granted reconsideration of its prior per curium order. The defendant was convicted of killing her child. After the trial, she moved for an acquittal under Rule 3:18-2. The trial court denied that post-verdict motion. On appeal, the defendant argued that the trial court erred in its… Continue reading State v. Lodzinski
The Pennsylvania Superior Court considered the proper way to account for a pension in a divorce and equitable distribution action. The defendant’s pension did not allow for survivorship benefits to an ex-spouse. As a work-around, the trial court ordered the plaintiff to take out a life insurance policy on the defendant and for him to… Continue reading Cuth v. Cuth
Civil procedure gone awry. Twelve mortgage loan officers claimed that Citizens Bank forced them—and more than a thousand of their colleagues—to work over forty hours a week without paying them the overtime they were due. They filed a single complaint bringing a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and parallel state law… Continue reading In re Citizens Bank, N.A.
This case had a procedural history only a bankruptcy attorney could stomach. In 2011, the Smeltzers filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition to restructure their debt. In April 2014, the mortgage lender filed a certificate of default claiming that the Smeltzers had defaulted under the terms of a stipulation and requested relief from the bankruptcy… Continue reading Cascade Funding Mortg. Trust v. Smeltzer
With a substantial reliance on Commonwealth v. Sanders, the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that the Commonwealth failed to make out a prima facie case of homicide by vehicle in a well-publicized incident where a trash truck struck and killed a bicyclist. The Court held that the Commonwealth did not offer any evidence that the defendant operated the trash truck recklessly. The Commonwealth… Continue reading Commonwealth v. Fretts
The defendant filed a motion to dismiss on double jeopardy grounds, relying on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Johnson, 231 A.3d 807 (Pa. 2020). The trial court denied the motion, and the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed. The Court held that “notwithstanding the Commonwealth’s unfortunate errors in this case, they do not rise… Continue reading Commonwealth v. Sanchez
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court declined “to adopt a test for standing whereby a retroactive or future enlargement in trustee compensation can only be challenged by a beneficiary who is able to demonstrate, preliminary, that her benefit will be affected by the increase.” Augustus Ashton created a trust in his will when he died in 1951.… Continue reading In re Ashton
In re Condemnation by Pa., Dep’t of Transp. of Right-of-Way for State Route 00700, Section 21H, in Bentleyville
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court
PennDOT took about one acre of land from a property that had a Best Western hotel on it and also took another acre to use during construction to build a new interstate exit ramp. A jury trial ensued over the property’s valuation. The evidence established that the property value decreased after the taking due to… Continue reading In re Condemnation by Pa., Dep’t of Transp. of Right-of-Way for State Route 00700, Section 21H, in Bentleyville