Justia Pennsylvania Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Appellee was sentenced to death for the 1998 murder of James Mowery. Although represented, Appellee filed a pro se document in federal court, demanding that his direct appeal be discontinued and that he be allowed to proceed immediately to execution. Appellee also filed papers reflecting that he wished to discharge counsel due to irreconcilable differences, and that counsel was forbidden to communicate with Appellee. Shortly thereafter, in December 2008, the Supreme Court affirmed Appellee’s judgment of sentence. Appellee asked the federal district court to supply him with a replacement attorney to assist him in pursuing guilt-phase claims at federal court. The court denied the request, stating that Appellee had not established the existence of an irreconcilable conflict with counsel. Separately, Appellee petitioned the Third Circuit Court of Appeals for mandamus relief in the form of an order directing the district court to rule on his pro se filings. In August 2010, the Third Circuit denied the petition without prejudice, retaining jurisdiction and instructing the district court to determine whether Appellee was competent to waive counsel. The Commonwealth appealed an order finding Appellee incompetent to waive his state post-conviction rights, including his right to counsel. The Supreme Court determined the Commonwealth was not entitled to relief, and ultimately affirmed the PCRA court's order. View "Pennsylvania v. Wright" on Justia Law

Appellant Christopher Roney appealed the denial of his petition filed pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”), following his conviction of first-degree murder and other offenses, the imposition of a sentence of death, and the Supreme Court's affirmance of his judgment of sentence. Finding that the PCRA court's determinations were supported by the record and free of legal error, the Supreme Court affirmed the PCRA court's order. View "Pennsylvania v. Roney" on Justia Law

Appellant Glenn Lyons appealed the death sentence he received after a jury convicted him of first-degree and third-degree murder for the 2008 stabbing death of Kathy Leibig. Having addressed and rejected each of Appellant's claims of error, the Supreme Court affirmed his death sentence.View "Pennsylvania v. Lyons" on Justia Law

The issue before the Supreme Court in this case was whether the sentencing court properly ordered a convicted defendant, as a condition of probation, to pay amounts representing child support to the children of the victim of the defendant’s crime. The Superior Court held that such a condition was not permitted as a matter of law, vacated the sentencing court’s order, and remanded for resentencing, with a majority holding that the purpose behind the trial court's order was "clearly to support the decedent's children and not to rehabilitate [appellee]." The Supreme Court affirmed the Superior Court's order, but for different reasons: "while a probationary condition resembling the equivalent of child support is not prohibited, neither is it specifically approved. What is undeniable is that child support is a separate realm subject to very specific statutory standards and implementing guidelines."View "Pennsylvania v. Hall" on Justia Law

Appellees were teenagers at the time of the offense. They traveled to downtown Philadelphia with two others. When plans fell through, the group decided to “jump” the next person they saw, so their trip downtown would not have been “for nothing.” The young men saw the 36-year-old victim walking alone in a subway concourse and decided to attack him. At the goading of his four friends, one of the young men struck the victim from behind. The others promptly joined the attack; they punched, kicked, and stomped on the victim’s head and chest. As a result of the beating, the victim suffered a fatal asthma attack. In this appeal, the issue before the Supreme Court was whether conspiracy to commit third degree murder was a cognizable offense under Pennsylvania law. Because the Court held conspiracy to commit third degree murder was a cognizable offense, the Court reversed the Superior Court's order and remanded the case for reinstatement of the sentences.View "Pennsylvania v. Fisher, Stanton and Best" on Justia Law

Appellant was first convicted of possession of child pornography in 2001. That conviction resulted in a sentence of five years’ intermediate punishment which Appellant completed in September 2006. In January 2007, the police received a cyber-tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Appellant had sent and received images of child pornography by computer. Appellant was arrested and arraigned on child pornography charges for a second time. The Commonwealth, although not required to do so at that point in the proceedings, informed Appellant that if convicted, he would be subject to a 25-year mandatory minimum sentence under the provisions of the Sentencing Code. At issue in this discretionary appeal before the Supreme Court was whether the 25-year mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment imposed for Appellant’s second conviction of possessing child pornography was grossly disproportionate to the crime and, therefore, unconstitutional. The Court determined that the punishment was not grossly disproportionate to the crime and, accordingly, affirmed.View "Pennsylvania v. Baker" on Justia Law

In 2005, appellee was charged with two counts of criminal use of a communication facility, as well as single counts of delivery of cocaine, possession with intent to deliver cocaine, and simple possession of cocaine. Represented by retained private counsel, appellee proceeded to a jury trial in 2006, and was found guilty of all charges except one of the counts of criminal use of a communication facility. The trial court sentenced appellee to three to six years of imprisonment on the delivery charge and a concurrent sentence of two to four years on the criminal use of a communication facility conviction, both with credit for time served. The other drug convictions were merged for sentencing purposes. In 2007, appellee motioned for appointment of counsel in the trial court, which the trial court granted, appointing the Centre County Public Defender’s Office. Then, through counsel, appellee filed a PCRA petition seeking reinstatement of his appeal rights due to trial counsel’s failure to file a requested direct appeal. In 2008, following an earlier evidentiary hearing, the PCRA court reinstated appellee’s direct appeal rights nunc pro tunc, without addressing the substantive ineffectiveness claims. Appellee subsequently filed a notice of appeal and a statement, identifying eleven issues of ineffectiveness of trial counsel. The the PCRA court issued its opinion briefly addressing the merits of those ineffectiveness claims. In his Superior Court brief, appellee pursued only three of the eleven claims of ineffectiveness; he raised no preserved, direct review claims. The Superior Court panel determined that appellee’s merits arguments were “misguided” because he should have argued that the PCRA court, in its opinion reinstating appellee’s direct appeal rights nunc pro tunc, had erred by failing to consider the effect of appellee’s amended PCRA petition raising trial counsel’s ineffectiveness. Following “Pennsylvania v. Liston,” (941 A.2d 1279 (Pa. Super.2008) (en banc)), the Superior Court remanded to the PCRA court with instructions to permit appellee to file post-sentence motions nunc pro tunc in which he could raise his ineffectiveness claims. The issue before the Supreme Court in this case was the reviewability of claims of ineffective assistance of counsel on post-verdict motions and direct appeal under “Pennsylvania v. Bomar,” (826 A.2d 831 (Pa. 2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1115 (2004)), and “Pennsylvania v. Grant,” (813 A.2d 726 (Pa. 2002)), including the question of whether ineffectiveness claims may be considered if accompanied by a waiver of review as of right under the Post Conviction Relief Act. The Supreme Court vacated the Superior Court’s order and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Pennsylvania v. Holmes" on Justia Law

In 2010, Philadelphia Police Officers were on patrol in their marked car in the area of North 58th Street and Florence Avenue when they observed appellee Sheim Gary driving an SUV with heavily tinted windows. Appellee would later be arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to deliver. The issue this case presented to the Supreme Court centered on the requirements in the Commonwealth for a warrantless search of a motor vehicle. After consideration of relevant federal and state law, the Court held that with respect to a warrantless search of a motor vehicle that was supported by probable cause, Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution affords no greater protection than the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Accordingly, the Court adopted the federal automobile exception to the warrant requirement, which allows police officers to search a motor vehicle when there is probable cause to do so and does not require any exigency beyond the inherent mobility of a motor vehicle. View "Commonwealth v. Gary" on Justia Law

A jury convicted Appellant of one count of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. The jury concluded, with respect to imposition of sentence, that the aggravating circumstances (committing murder to prevent testimony in a possible criminal proceeding regarding a felony and committing a killing in perpetration of a felony) outweighed the mitigating circumstance (character and record). Upon review, and finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed Appellant's conviction. View "Pennsylvania v. Morales" on Justia Law

Appellant Maurice "Boo" Patterson appealed his death sentence after he was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder, criminal conspiracy, and criminal solicitation. The charges against Appellant arose from the fatal shooting of Eric "Bop" Sawyer by Sean "Raydar" Durrant. Durrant confessed to shooting the victim, but claimed he did so at the behest of Appellant, who had been incarcerated in the Lycoming County Prison. Appellant filed post-sentence motions on in 2010 and 2011; the motions were denied in 2012. However, upon discovering that Appellant's sentence for criminal conspiracy was an illegal sentence, in that it exceeded the maximum sentence for the crime, the trial court vacated that portion of Appellant's sentence and resentenced him to 10 to 20 years, to be served concurrently with his death sentence for the murder conviction. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed Appellant's conviction.View "Pennsylvania v. Patterson" on Justia Law