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Friday, July 31, 2009

Amendment III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.



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Thursday, July 30, 2009

Amendment II - US Constitution - Bill of Rights

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.



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Amendment I - US Constitution - Bill of Rights

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.



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DNA is changing the way America fights crime, not its policies towards convicts

Crime and exoneration
Hidden evidence


A JUDGE can tell prospective jurors that in a criminal trial, unlike an episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”, scientific evidence is not necessary to secure a conviction, an appeals court in Baltimore ruled on July 7th. Quite right, too. The evidence submitted in real courts is often not as cut-and-dried as it seems on television. Yet the use of DNA to secure convictions is growing fast. The people not benefiting from this are those who may have been wrongfully convicted before DNA was routinely examined, and who are being denied access to evidence that could set them free.

Read the Rest of the article by clicking here...

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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Preamble to the United States Constitution

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.



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Pennsylvania Constitution - Article I - Security From Searches and Seizures

Section 8.

The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions from unreasonable searches and seizures, and no warrant to search any place or to seize any person or things shall issue without describing them as nearly as may be, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation subscribed by the affiant.



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Monday, July 27, 2009

Pennsylvania Constitution - Article I - Freedom of Press and Speech; Libels

Section 7

The printing press shall be free to every person who may undertake to examine the proceedings of the Legislature or any branch of government, and no law shall ever by made to restrain the right thereof. The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and every citizen may freely speak, write and print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. No conviction shall be had in any prosecution for the publication of papers relating to the official conduct of officers or men in public capacity, or to any other matter proper for public investigation or information, where the fact that such publication was not maliciously or negligently made shall be established to the satisfaction of the jury; and in all indictments for libels the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the court, as in other cases.



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Pennsylvania Constitution - Article I - Jury Trial

Section 6

Trial by jury shall be as heretofore, and the right thereof remain inviolate. The General assembly may provide, however, by law, that a verdict may be rendered by not less than five-sixths of the jury in any civil case. Furthermore, in criminal cases, the Commonwealth shall have the same right to trial by jury as does the accused.



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Pennsylvania Constitution - Article I - Elections

Section 5

Elections shall be free and equal; and no power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage.



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Pennsylvania Constitution - Article I - Religion

Section 4

No person who acknowledges the being of a God and a future state of rewards and punishments shall, on account of his religious sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or place of trust or profit under this Commonwealth.



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Religious Freedom - Pennsylvania Constitution - Article I

Section 3

All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; no man can of right be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship or to maintain any ministry against his consent; no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience, and no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious establishments or modes of worship.


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Political Powers - Article I

Section 2.
All power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority and instituted for their peace, safety and happiness. For the advancement of these ends they have at all times an inalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform or abolish their government in such manner as they may think proper.



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Inherent Rights of Mankind

Section 1.

All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent and indefeasible rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property and reputation, and of pursuing their own happiness.



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Pennsylvania Constitution

WE, the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance, do ordain and establish this Constitution.



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Mentally Incompetent Inmate

Commonwealth v Sam, 952 A.2d 565 (Pa. 2008)­the Court, per Castille, C.J., holds that Art. I, section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution does not provide a greater right for a mentally incompetent inmate to refuse antipsychotic medication for the purpose of rendering the inmate competent to participate in post-sentencing proceedings than did the parallel federal right determined by the United States Supreme Court in Sell v. United States, 539 U.S. 166 (2003). Baer, J., joined by Todd, J., dissented.



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Sunday, July 26, 2009

New York Independent Source Doctrine

The Court of Appeals, in a case remarkably similar to that at bar, has clearly held that the inevitable discovery doctrine can never be used to allow the admission into evidence of contraband which was directly seized as the result of an illegal search. People v. Stith, 69 N.Y.2d 313, 319 (1987).

Moreover, a brief review of the history of this doctrine demonstrates why the People should not be allowed to resort to the Inevitable Discovery doctrine to "save" the illegally obtained evidence in this case.

A. The "Inevitable Discovery" Exception to the Exclusionary Rule does not apply here. The exclusionary rule has been applied in New York State, as elsewhere, to fulfill the twofold purpose of preserving the integrity of the judicial system and deterring illegal conduct by the police by excluding from use in Court as evidence property secured by the government in violation of an individual's constitutionally protected rights.

Exclusion of evidence is hoped to remove any incentive for law enforcement officials to employ illegal means to obtain evidence.

To achieve these ends, our federal courts, since Silverthorne Lumber Company v. United States, 251 U.S. 385 (1920), and the states, since Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961), in addition to excluding the illegally obtained evidence itself, also refuse to admit any evidence derived from or found as a result of the improper conduct, labelling such derivative evidence the "fruit of the poisonous tree."

The essence of a provision forbidding the acquisition of evidence in a certain way is that not merely evidence so acquired shall not be used before the Court but that it shall not be used at all. Silverthorne, 251 U.S. at 392.

Silverthorne allowed that if knowledge of derivative facts "is gained from an independent source they may be proved like any others ...." 251 U. S. at 392. It is from this "independent source" exception to the exclusionary rule that courts have found an "inevitable discovery" exception to the exclusionary rule.

It would be well to note at present two elementary features of the " independent source" doctrine which are important to a correct understanding of the "inevitable discovery" rule: first, it is not too simple to observe that the "independent source" "exception" is an exception to the exclusionary rule which applies to evidence derived from conduct unlawful under the Fourth, Fifth or Sixth Amendment; it is not an " exception" to the warrant requirement, the Fifth Amendment privilege, or the right to counsel. That is, the "independent source" rule is not concerned with justifying or excusing the primary intrusion.

Second, as a consequence, the "independent source" exception is not concerned with the admissibility of the primary evidence obtained in the wrongful intrusion, which is always suppressed, but with whether evidence derived from that unlawful intrusion or that primary evidence must also be suppressed.[ 1 Somewhat akin are the "purged taint" exception, Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 488 (1963) and the "attenuation of taint" rule, Cf. U.S. v. Ceccolini, 435 U.S. 268, 98 S.Ct. 1054.]1

The New York Court of Appeals may be the first in the nation to have articulated the true "bright line" between a narrow "inevitable discovery" exception to the exclusionary rule and a broader loophole that would actually be an exception to the warrant requirement itself. Under New York law, the primary evidence obtained in an unlawful intrusion may not be used at all. Only evidence derived secondarily will be admitted if it was inevitable that evidence would have been found by lawful means anyway.

This is the only articulation of the rule which discourages evasion of the warrant mandate. People v. Stith, 69 N.Y. 2d 313, 514 N.Y.S. 2d 201 (1987).

Since the evidence sought to be offered in this case is the primary evidence that was seized by the trooper at the time of the stop of the vehicle and its unlawful search, the "inevitable discovery" exception provides no relief for the state from the application of the exclusionary rule.

The only legitimate route for the police to have obtained the evidence now sought to be entered would have been on an application for a warrant to search the vehicle, armed with the information that some white paper was seen in the door panel. Thus, this case is a clear example of how allowing the evidence in would circumvent the warrant requirement.

B. History of the inevitable discovery exception to the exclusionary rule. The history of the inevitable discovery exception leading up to Stith explains the rationale of that case and, simultaneously, the inapplicability to this case, at least under the New York constitution, of the inevitable discovery exception.

The first clear application of the "inevitable discovery" exception was in Somer v. U.S., 138 F.2d 790 (2nd Cir. 1943) where, although Judge Hand found that the primary evidence had been illegally procured, the derivative arrest of the accused could be upheld if the prosecution could show that the defendant would have been arrested without the illegally obtained information.

1. Primary vs. Secondary Evidence. The distinction between primary and derivative evidence has already been addressed, for it is elemental to the independent source exception. The primary evidence is, in this case, the controlled substances that were discovered and retrieved by the trooper when he unlawfully deviated from what has been argued as an inventory of the vehicle.

Neither the Supreme Court, Nix v. Williams, 467 U.S. 431, 104 S.Ct. 2501 (1984); Gilbert v. California, 388 U.S. 263, 272 (1967), nor the New York Court of Appeals, People v. Fitzpatrick, 32 N.Y.2d 499, 346 N.Y.S.2d 793 (1973); People v. Payton, 45 N.Y.2d 300, 408 N.Y.S.2d 395; People v. Knapp, 52 N.Y.2d 689, 439 N.Y.S.2d 871 (1981), had ever applied the "inevitable discovery" exception to primary evidence seized.

If the primary evidence could be admitted where it was shown that its discovery would have been "inevitable" without the unlawful conduct, the "inevitable discovery" exception would become an exception to the warrant requirement, or the right to counsel, or the Fifth Amendment privilege.



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Petition for Allowance of Appeal GRANTED

Commonwealth v. Henderson, C., Pet, No. 569 WAL 2008 Granted

Opinion By: per curiam
Posted By: W.D. Prothonotary

Date Rendered: 6/30/2009

Date Posted: 7/1/2009

Opinion Type: Petitions for Allowance of Appeal



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About the Pa Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth. It is also the oldest appellate court in the nation, dating to 1684. The court makes final interpretations of state law and has administrative authority over the entire Pennsylvania court system. Seven justices make up the court. They are elected to 10-year terms.

The longest-serving member of the court presides as chief justice. The court holds sessions in Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.The Supreme Court receives about 2,500 civil and criminal appeals each year. It has the discretionary power to hear and decide only those cases that it deems to have statewide importance or to require clarification on a point of law. The court must review certain types of cases such as all death penalty cases and appeals from lawsuits that originate in Commonwealth Court.

The Supreme Court also can take up any case in any court in Pennsylvania if it considers an issue of immediate public importance to be at stake. When it does this, the court exercises one of two powers known as the "King's Bench" power or the power of "extraordinary jurisdiction."



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Pittsburgh Prepares for the G-20 Summit

Organizers say it's too early to tell how many local and international demonstrators will descend on Pittsburgh for September's G-20 summit, but they agree most protesters will arrive early, angry and stay that way. (Read Full Article)

Indeed, the city of Pittsburgh will be a media hotspot during the G-20 Summit in September.


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