Estate of Moulton v. Puopolo, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-046-14)
Board directors who adopt workplace safety policies are employers under workers' compensation law and immune from negligence suits by injured employees.
Lawyers
Commonwealth v. Wade (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-045-14)
DNA testing statute sets low threshold for preliminary access to forensic analysis, separate from postconviction motion standards. Reversed and remanded for hearing.
Commonwealth v. Ehrlich (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-044-14)
Shareholder in close corporation breached fiduciary duties to wrongfully terminated minority shareholder; contract damages award vacated for recalculation; consumer protection claim dismissed as intra-corporate dispute.
Commonwealth v. Meas (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-042-14)
First-degree murder conviction affirmed despite showup identification challenges and procedural errors; court finds good reason for identification procedure despite inherent suggestiveness.
U.S. Bank National Association v. Schumacher (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-041-14)
Statutory right to cure mortgage default is preforeclosure protection, not part of foreclosure power of sale itself; violations must be challenged in equity action, not summary process.
Pehoviak, et al. v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Company (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-024-14)
Deutsche Bank breached its duty of good faith and reasonable diligence by refusing to provide a foreclosure buyer with evidence of required notice to junior lienholders, causing Commerce Bank's junior mortgage to go unsatisfied.
Commonwealth v. Hoose (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-040-14)
Murder convictions affirmed. Defendant's Miranda waivers and confessions were voluntary despite claims of trauma and medication. Pretrial publicity was not pervasive. Expert testimony on false confessions properly excluded.
MacDonald v. Caruso (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-039-14)
Defendant seeking to terminate permanent abuse prevention order must prove by clear and convincing evidence that significant change in circumstances eliminates reasonable fear of harm.
Commonwealth v. Robertson (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-032-14)
Section 105(b) prohibits photographing persons who are nude or partially nude, meaning actually unclothed in plain view. Upskirting fully clothed women falls outside the statute's scope.
Commonwealth v. Scott (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-033-14)
Defendant entitled to conclusive presumption of government chemist misconduct where chemist signed drug certificate, but must show misconduct would have changed plea decision.