A defendant appealed from a Pennsylvania DUI sentence that was beyond the maximum range, and the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed. In June 2015, the appellant was stopped for driving erratically. Police administered three field sobriety tests, which the appellant failed. The police also soon learned that the appellant’s license was suspended.…
A Pennsylvania driver huffed difluoroethane, or DFE, while driving and killed another driver in a subsequent collision. Based on her past of losing consciousness after huffing DFE, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court concluded this summer that her conduct constituted malice sufficient to support her convictions of third-degree murder and aggravated assault.…
On July 22, 2015, a driver was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance. On April 15, 2016, he petitioned for acceptance into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program. The Commonwealth approved his petition, and, on June 2, 2016, the trial court accepted him into…
A driver appealed from a June 21, 2016 judgment of sentence in a Pennsylvania DUI case, imposing 36-108 months of incarceration for homicide by vehicle, recklessly endangering another person (“REAP“), and driving under the influence of a controlled substance. The trial court summarized the facts as follows. The driver was driving…
A defendant appealed from the February 23, 2016 order entered in the Greene County Court of Common Pleas, denying his petitions filed under the Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA“). This month, the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the judgment. On December 3, 2013, the defendant pled guilty to theft by unlawful…
A defendant appealed from a 2017 trial court order denying his appeal from a suspension of his driving privileges imposed by the Bureau of Driver’s Licensing. The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the order. In May 2016, two Pennsylvania State Police Troopers were dispatched to a truck stop in Breezewood,…
A defendant appealed from the July 2016 judgment of sentence entered in the McKean County Court of Common Pleas following his convictions for DUI and careless driving. The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed. The defendant raised one issue on appeal: whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motions…
The Commonwealth appealed from an October 17, 2016 order entered in the York County Court of Common Pleas, granting the motion to suppress filed by a defendant in a Pennsylvania DUI case. Since the trial court did not make factual findings regarding whether the defendant consented to the blood draw…
A driver appealed from the order entered in the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas denying his motion for a waiver or reduction of the court costs and fines imposed as a result of his July 8, 2014 conviction and sentence for one count of driving under the influence of a…
A driver appealed from the August 26, 2016 judgment of sentence entered in the Mercer County Court of Common Pleas following his bench trial conviction for driving under the influence — highest rate of alcohol. The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed. In disposing of the driver’s motion to suppress, the trial…