Goldstein Mehta LLC

10/14/2026

goldsteinmehta.com/blog/pa-supreme-court-rejects-joint-acquisition-and-use-defense-to-drug-delivery-resulting-in-death

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has decided Commonwealth v. Cassell and Commonwealth v. Scott , Nos. 22 and 23 MAP 2025 (Pa. Oct. 13, 2026), holding that two people who buy drugs together and use them together have no defense to the delivery element of possession with intent to deliver or drug del

10/11/2026

https://goldsteinmehta.com/blog/pa-superior-court-trial-court-cannot-revoke-bail-based-only-on-the-prosecutors-proffer

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has decided Commonwealth v. Moore , 2026 PA Super 228 (Pa. Super. Oct. 9, 2026), holding that a trial court abused its discretion when it revoked a defendant’s bail based only on the prosecutor’s unsworn description of what a witness had reported. The Commonwealth...

10/09/2026

goldsteinmehta.com/blog/pa-supreme-court-a-lie-on-a-benefits-application-is-not-theft-unless-it-changed-the-benefits

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has decided Commonwealth v. Gaspard , holding that the Commonwealth cannot convict a public benefits recipient of theft by deception just by proving that she left a source of income off her paperwork. Under 18 Pa.C.S. § 3922(b), a falsehood counts as deception only if

10/07/2026

https://goldsteinmehta.com/blog/pa-superior-court-sets-10-day-deadline-for-nunc-pro-tunc-post-sentence-motions

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has decided the case of Commonwealth v. Wirfel , 2026 PA Super 224, holding that once a trial court grants a defendant permission to file a post-sentence motion nunc pro tunc , the defendant has ten days from that order to file the motion. If the motion never gets f

10/03/2026

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has decided Commonwealth v. Worzel , holding that a trial judge retains discretion to keep a DUI defendant in the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program even after finding that they violated a condition of the program. The Commonwealth argued that Sectio

10/02/2026

PA Supreme Court: Prosecutors May Not Use a Defendant’s Decision to Hire a Lawyer Against Him AppealsViolent CrimesSex Crimes Oct 2 Written By Zak Goldstein Criminal Defense Attorney Zak Goldstein The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has decided Commonwealth v. Jenkins, No. 66 MAP 2024 (Pa. Oct. 1, 2026...

10/01/2026

https://goldsteinmehta.com/blog/pa-superior-court-service-of-a-temporary-pfa-order-does-not-prove-the-defendant-knew-about-the-final-order

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has decided the case of Commonwealth v. Miller , 2026 PA Super 219, reversing a conviction for indirect criminal contempt of a Protection From Abuse order because the Commonwealth never proved that the defendant knew a final PFA order existed. The defendant had been

10/01/2026

goldsteinmehta.com/blog/pa-superior-court-google-and-facebook-are-not-government-agents-when-they-scan-user-accounts-and-report-internet-contraband-to-ncmec

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has decided the case of Commonwealth v. Thomas , 2026 PA Super 209, holding that Google and Facebook do not act as agents of the government when they scan their users’ accounts for child sexual abuse material and report what they find to the National Center for Miss...

09/21/2026

goldsteinmehta.com/blog/pa-superior-court-no-reasonable-expectation-of-privacy-in-bag-left-in-the-open-bed-of-a-pickup-truck-where-defendant-had-no-connection-to-the-truck

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has decided Commonwealth v. Serrano , 2026 PA Super 205 (Pa. Super. Sept. 18, 2026), holding that the trial court erred in suppressing a gun that police found in a bag in the open bed of a parked pickup truck. The Commonwealth produced evidence that the defendant’s ...

09/19/2026

goldsteinmehta.com/blog/pa-superior-court-no-mere-encounter-where-officer-pointed-gun-at-suspect

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has decided Commonwealth v. Thomas , 2026 PA Super 202 (Pa. Super. Sept. 16, 2026), holding that a Philadelphia police officer seized the defendant when he approached him with his gun drawn. The officer claimed that he only asked for identification, but he did not tu