Commonwealth v. Boyd (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-049-16)
Armed career criminal conviction reversed; second offender enhancement effectively dismissed by initial sentencing decision; resentencing on underlying crime affirmed.
Commonwealth
Commonwealth v. Sylvia (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-039-16)
Defendant's guilty plea was knowingly voluntary despite unequal judicial procedures. Armed career criminal is sentencing enhancement, not separate offense.
Commonwealth v. Mercado (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-048-16)
Noncitizen defendant's motion for new trial based on ineffective assistance of counsel regarding deportation consequences of guilty plea to drug possession, remanded.
Cooper v. Commonwealth (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-046-16)
Appeal denied where appellant failed to file new notice of appeal after receiving extension, though court expressed concern the appeal should have proceeded.
Commonwealth v. Drapaniotis (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-038-16)
Conviction for theft of operable firearm reversed where only evidence of operability was uncorroborated decade-old hearsay that salesman said gun worked.
Commonwealth v. Mazariego (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-045-16)
Murder conviction affirmed; aggravated rape conviction dismissed as duplicative. Miranda statements properly obtained; interrogation techniques not coercive.
Commonwealth v. Bonilla (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-037-16)
Larceny conviction affirmed where defendant deposited bad checks into new bank accounts and withdrew funds before checks cleared. Uttering conviction reversed; writing a bad check is not uttering a false instrument.
Commonwealth v. Keene (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-036-16)
Radio bulletin describing vehicle occupants as armed and dangerous, issued without reasonable suspicion, violated Fourth Amendment despite responding officers' reasonable reliance.
Commonwealth v. Oliveira (and a companion case) (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-042-16)
Impoundment of lawfully parked vehicle unconstitutional where driver offered reasonable alternative and police ignored it.
Commonwealth v. Sanchez (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-034-16)
Shed in fenced backyard held part of apartment curtilage where defendant rented it, locked it, and possessed keys, so search warrant extended to shed.