Commonwealth v. Vincent (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-169-14)
Defendant charged with murder after girlfriend's death from beating. Court affirmed conviction, finding statements admissible despite ambiguous references to needing lawyer.
Commonwealth
Commonwealth v. LeClair, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-168-14)
Witness validly invoked Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination regarding drug use; prosecutor's intent not to prosecute insufficient to override privilege; compelled testimony did not constitute waiver.
Rodman, et al. v. Commonwealth (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-132-14)
Eminent domain taking; trial judge improperly excluded evidence of permitted zoning uses; vacated and reversed.
Commonwealth v. Sayyid (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-130-14)
Probationer with intellectual disability challenges attorney's stipulation to probation violations. Court holds waiver must be knowing and voluntary, assessed under totality of circumstances.
Commonwealth v. Hunt (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-131-14)
Court vacates civil contempt order where attorney refused to produce third-party documents. Judge failed to follow mandatory protocols under rule 17(a)(2) before compelling production.
Commonwealth v. Balthazar (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-128-14)
Defendant's guilty pleas to crimes of moral turpitude subjected him to deportation. Counsel's failure to advise him of this certain consequence was constitutionally deficient; prejudice remanded for hearing.
Commonwealth v. Guinan (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-127-14)
Convictions reversed where accident reconstruction expert lacked qualifications to testify about computer-assisted power steering system software.
Commonwealth v. Paine (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-126-14)
Convictions reversed where Commonwealth proved pill identity only through visual inspection and pharmaceutical database lookup, without chemical analysis or corroborating circumstances.
Commonwealth v. Howard (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-166-14)
Murder conviction vacated where police violated Miranda rights by continuing interrogation after defendant invoked right to silence, prosecutor improperly used erroneously admitted statements and made character attacks in closing, and judge's mental impairment instruction omitted required limitations on extreme cruelty theory.
Tyree v. Commonwealth (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-165-14)
Conviction of first-degree murder affirmed. Defendant failed to demonstrate entitlement to extraordinary relief decades after conviction by not showing unavailable alternative remedies.