Articles

In May 2016 Governor Tom Wolf signed Act 33 into Pennsylvania Law. The act allows some individuals convicted of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Controlled Substances, whose licenses have been revoked or suspended, to apply for an Ignition Interlock Limited License (“IILL”). The ignition interlock system is leased and placed in the vehicle […]

On July 19th, 2017, in Commonwealth v. Shabezz, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that in an illegal seizure of a vehicle, passengers are entitled to suppression of evidence found in the course of the seizure. Such evidence is “barred outright as fruit of the poisonous tree” and there is no additional requirement for defendants to […]

On July 14, 2017, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania ruled that Requirements for driving under influence offenders (-75 Pa.C. S .§§ 3816) did not require that all defendants charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI) submit to a Court Reporting Network (CRN) Evaluation as a condition of bail. Specifically, the court found that this requirement […]

Protecting the rights of both the police and the accusedAs of June 20, 2017, motor vehicle recordings (“MVRs”), commonly known as “dash cams”, recorded by state trooper patrol vehicles when lights or sirens are activated are not protected from public disclosure under the “criminal investigative records” exception to the Right-to-Know-Law (“RTKL”). The 2008 RTKL enables […]

On July 21, 2015, a parole agent received an anonymous tip that one of her parolees, Navarro Banks (“Banks”), was in violation of his parole. Upon receiving a single tip, two agents went to Banks’ home. While speaking with Banks on his front porch, the agents did not see any or have any indication of […]