In State v. Cruz-Pena, the Supreme Court held that a jury could make the highly fact-sensitive determination that the defendant committed kidnapping because the victim was held against her will for a “substantial period” where he held her captive for four to five hours while he sexually assaulted her, though he never moved her. In … Read more
The Supreme Court held in Commonwealth v. Smith that a person who is wanted on a bench warrant — even if that person is not physically fleeing prosecution — is a fugitive under the Uniform Firearms Act and is therefore statutorily ineligible to carry a gun under Section 6105 of the UFA.
The Superior Court ruled that using a police scanner to avoid the police after shooting someone is not sufficient to establish criminal use of communication facility. But, more notably, this case is worth a read because the defendant’s claim of self-defense is pure comic gold.
The defendant was convicted of homicide and sexual assault charges in 2000, was awarded a new trial, and in 2007 again convicted of the charges. In 2018, with the Innocence Project as his counsel, he moved for a new trial, arguing that changes in bitemark identification reliability and scientific validity had changed sufficiently to undermine … Read more
Appellant challenged his sentence for failing to register as a sex-offender under the 18 Pa.C.S. § 4915, which since has been ruled unconstitutional. The Supreme Court held that his sentence on this void statute is an illegal sentence and vacated the judgments of sentence.
Facebook provided a tip to law enforcement that two parties to a Facebook Live stream were engaging in sexual acts with a minor. After reviewing the transcript — but not the video stream — from Facebook, law enforcement came to Appellant’s home and obtained a confession. At Appellant’s dispositional hearing (she, too, was a minor), … Read more
At a homicide trial, the State called the decedent’s daughter, who heard the defendant tell the decedent that, “if you can’t be with me, then you can’t be with anyone.” The Appellate Division held that the statement was admissible as the statement of a party opponent under N.J.R.E. 803(b)(1), as well as proof of motive … Read more
#Homicide #CriminalLaw #AppellateLaw04/14/20- Tyler was convicted by a federal jury of tampering with a witness by murder three times. The first two times, his convictions were overturned due to legal errors. After his third trial, the trial judge granted his Rule 29 motion and set aside the jury’s verdict because of a lack of effort. … Read more
#Waiver #ProsecutorialMisconduct #CriminalLaw bit.ly/34Jwup4 After a jury convicted him of sexual assault and related crimes, Ramos claimed on appeal that the trial court erred by failing to grant a mistrial when a detective testified that a photo in an array came from Ramos’s prior arrest and when a detective stated that he “believed the complainant”. … Read more