Specific Controls the General, Except When It Doesn't: Mandatory Minimums and Illegal Sentences
In the 2017 edition of my PCRA book, I noted that mandatory minimum sentencing issues are considered illegal sentencing claims, but that...
Retroactivity Confusion
The Pennsylvania Superior Court, in recent months, has issued two separate PCRA opinions concerning sex offender registration, each...
Davila v. Davis and Rights without Remedies
In June (of 2017), SCOTUS, in an opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas, declared that the ineffectiveness of post-conviction relief counsel...
New Evidence After a Remand
I am currently litigating an interesting PCRA issue relative to the proper manner of handling claims concerning after-discovered evidence...
Securing the Out-of-State Witness
Obtaining a subpoena and serving it on an in-state witness is a relatively simple process. The Clerk of Courts or Department of Court...
Adverse Witnesses, Leading Questions and the PCRA Hearing
The PCRA evidentiary hearing is unusual insofar as the Commonwealth is seeking to demonstrate that trial or plea counsel performed...
Attorney-Client Privilege and Trial Counsel as a Cooperating Commonwealth PCRA witness
In an interesting decision, the Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld a PCRA court's order precluding the Commonwealth from interviewing and...