In Commonwealth v. Vela-Garrett, the Pennsylvania Superior Court addressed the defendant’s argument that his conviction for endangering the welfare of a child (EWOC) was not supported by sufficient evidence. The defendant was convicted of driving under the influence of marijuana under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(d)(1)(iii), a strict-liability offense, and EWOC after he was stopped for … Read more
In Commonwealth v. Dirosa, the defendant challenged the sufficiency of the evidence for his DUI conviction, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(c). The defendant argued that the evidence did not establish he drove his car to a Wawa or that he was in actual physical control of the car while sitting in it at the Wawa parking … Read more
The Pennsylvania Superior Court began the opinion in Commonwealth v. Given by letting the appellant know all the ways in which he waived his claims and filed a bad brief. But the Court sua sponte addressed a sentencing issue. The appellant was convicted of two counts of DUI, one count for having marijuana in his … Read more
In Commonwealth v. Donoughe, the defendant was charged with DUI and accepted into the ARD program. Pursuant to a written policy, ninety days after the defendant was accepted into ARD, the Pennsylvania State Police destroyed the mobile recording video of the arrest. But the defendant got kicked out of ARD and proceeded to trial. He … Read more
In Commonwealth v. Clemens, the Pennsylvania Superior Court was asked to decide whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain convictions for DUI-General Impairment and Resisting Arrest. Given the challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, the opinion covered the facts in great detail. The Court held that, even though the officers never explicitly stated to … Read more
In State v. Faber, the NJ Appellate Division held that, as part of the defendant’s sentence for DWI, the Law Division failed to include mandatory participation in the Intoxicated Driver Resource Center. Because this omission rendered it an illegal sentence, the case was remanded. Furthermore, when the Law Division granted the defendant’s application to stay … Read more
The defendant in Commonwealth v. Brown argued that the trial court erred when it imposed a sentence above the mandatory minimum for DUI, 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3802(a)(2), an ungraded misdemeanor and his first such offense in ten years. The PA Superior Court affirmed the sentence, holding that the trial court acted within its discretion when … Read more
If you live in NJ and have kids, read Estate of Narleski v. Gomes. Here, the NJ Supreme Court held that an underage adult defendant may be held civilly liable to a third party drunk driving victim if 3 elements are met: 1. the defendant facilitated the use of alcohol by making their home available … Read more
In State v. Faber, the Appellate Division remanded, holding that the lower court failed to reference either the Intoxicated Driver Resource Center (IDRC) or the necessity of an ignition interlock device in it’s sentencing order.
In Commonwealth v. Gaston, the defendant’s DUI prosecution was in the pretrial stage when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Birchfield v. North Dakota. The defendant moved to suppress his blood draw based on Birchfield, but the Superior Court held that the evidence need not be suppressed because the defendant consented to the … Read more