UPDATE: In the News: Federal Judge denies motion to suppress destroyed evidence

Published on 19 April 2011 by in Blog, Evidentiary Issues, In the News, News Update

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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that US District Judge Gustave Diamond has denied a defendant’s motion to suppress evidence and dismiss charges in a case where the evidence was destroyed before trial.  In this case, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office permitted drug evidence and a coin purse allegedly seized from the defendant to be incinerated. Before granting the request to incinerate the evidence, the District Attorney’s Office was not aware that the United States Attorney General’s Office was prosecuting the case.  The defense argued that it was substantially impaired by the destruction of evidence and requested that the court dismiss the charges and suppress the destroyed evidence.  After considering the motions, Judge Diamond concluded that the evidence was not destroyed in bad faith and that the prosecution was not put on notice that the defendant found the coin purse to be exculpatory evidence.

 

For more information, go to:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11109/1140430-100.stm?cmpid=latest.xml

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In The News: Judge to rule on case where drug evidence was destroyed

Published on 06 April 2011 by in Blog, Drug Crimes, Evidentiary Issues, Federal Court Cases, In the News

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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that a federal judge may permit a drug case to proceed after the Allegheny County Office of the District Attorney destroyed evidence.  The case, which is being heard by U.S. District Court Judge Gustave Diamond, involves a defendant who has been accused of possession with intent to deliver heroin.  After the Allegheny County DA’s office transferred prosecution to the United States Attorney General’s office, the drug evidence and the zippered purse in which the drugs were allegedly found were incinerated.  The defendant argues that the absence of the zippered purse will hamper her ability to challenge the legality of the police officers’ search.

For more information, go to:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11096/1137378-100.stm?cmpid=latest.xml

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BriefLaw: Commonwealth v. Willard Oakley Moser

Published on 12 July 2010 by in Blog, Evidentiary Issues, Guilty Pleas

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Commonwealth v. Willard Oakley Moser 2010 PA Super 119 (7/08/2010)

Topic: Evidence of Prior Trials in Current Cases

Summary: Under Pa.R.E. 410(a)(2), evidence of a prior nolo contendere plea is inadmissible in any future criminal proceedings.

http://www.aopc.org/OpPosting/Superior/out/S33002_10.pdf

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In the News: National Academy of Sciences report casts doubt on nation’s crime lab

Published on 19 February 2009 by in Evidentiary Issues

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A recent report from the National Academy of Sciences casts doubt on the effectiveness of American crime labs. The report indicates that, due to problems with funding, the quality of the science used, and the lack of dependable standards, much evidence used in court is unreliable. Additionally, according to the report, the only type of evidence that is truly dependable is DNA. The article on MSN states that “no other crime scene evidence is dependable enough to allow police officers to testify in court, as they often do, that it’s ‘a match’ to a specific person.”

The report states that due to a lack of strict standards, low funding, and a lack of proper equipment, crime labs are unprepared to perform truly reliable scientific tests on evidence. The report claims that the only effective solution will be a massive overhaul of the crime labs. The report also recommends that crime labs do more to adhere to accepted scientific standards when processing evidence.

For more information, go to:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29258576/

http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12589

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