by Lea Bickerton | Feb 13, 2009 | Case Law Summaries, Identification Issues
Commonwealth v. Crork 2009 PA Super 24 (2/10/2009)Topic: Tattoo IdentificationSummary: The Pennsylvania Superior Court concluded that a tattoo is an inanimate object and not subject to the heightened identification/line-up protections to which an individual himself is...
by Lea Bickerton | Feb 12, 2009 | Jail Conditions, Judicial Misconduct, Juvenile Issues
Luzerne County, PA Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan pleaded guilty to federal charges of “honest services fraud” and tax fraud. Both judges were removed from the bench in January.The guilty pleas were the result of Ciavarella and Conahan...
by Lea Bickerton | Feb 12, 2009 | Checkpoints, DUI
Two pedestrians in Perry County, PA were charged with public intoxication after allegedly walking through a DUI checkpoint. Although the charges strike many as being odd, Fran Chardo, a first-district attorney in Dauphin County said, “Being intoxicated in public...
by Lea Bickerton | Feb 12, 2009 | Checkpoints
This weekend, police departments in the North Hills of Pittsburgh will be conducting roving DUI patrols. In addition to drunk drivers, the patrols will be on the lookout for seatbelt violations as well as motor vehicle violations. Police officers from Bradford Woods,...
by Lea Bickerton | Feb 5, 2009 | Case Law Summaries, Probation
Commonwealth v. Woods 2009 PA Super 19Topic: Probation Violation – Right to a speedy violation hearingSummary: Probationer was not denied his right to a speedy probation violation hearing where probationer was sentenced for a new offense and was subject to a...
