For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 52

decisional law underlying Article I, Section
8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. PACDL
also argued that the seizure of defendant's
vehicle from the driveway of his home
violated the Constitutions of the United
States and of Pennsylvania.	
Held: The Court concluded that "Gary
does not operate to permit the warrantless
seizure of a vehicle parked on a defendant's
residential driveway." The decision was
based solely on the Court's assessment of
the Fourth Amendment. Noting PACDL's
argument under Article I, Section 8, the
Court stated that the appellant "...did not
request, and we therefore did not grant,
allowance of appeal to reconsider the
rationale proffered by the plurality in Gary
to determine whether the adoption of the
federal automobile exception is supportable
under the Pennsylvania Constitution." The
opinion was authored by Justice Donohue
and was joined by Justices Baer, Todd,
Dougherty and Wecht. Justice Mundy filed
a concurring opinion. Chief Justice Saylor
filed a concurring and dissenting opinion.
According to Chief Justice Saylor, he was
unable "...to support the use of this case as a
vehicle to implement a per se invalidation of
the automobile exception relative to private
driveways."
Amicus Authors: Leonard Sosnov of the
Defender Association of Philadelphia and
David Rudovsky of Rudovsky, Messing,
Feinberg & Lin, LLP.

Nature of case: Piasecki is a mentally
challenged young adult who was convicted
in the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks
County of possessing or controlling child
pornography in violation of 18 Pa.C.S.
6312(d). Piasecki was sentenced on April
26, 2010; he was placed on probation for
three (3) years and was required to comply
with the requirements of SORNA, arguably
as a lifetime registrant. Piasecki ultimately
filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus
in federal court in December, 2014. As of
that date, Piaskecki's term of probation
was expired, but he was still subject to
the requirements of SORNA. The district
court, however, dismissed the petition,
concluding, in relevant part, that Piasecki
was no longer in "custody" and that the
court did not have jurisdiction to hear
the petition. The Third Circuit issued a
certificate of appealability.
Issue presented by Amici: "Do the
burdens that result from a person's
status as a registered sex offender under
Pennsylvania's Sexual Offender Registration
and Notification Act, 42 Pa.C.S. § 9799.10 et
seq., amount to "custody" for the purposes
of the federal habeas statute,
28 U.S.C. § 2254(a)?"
Status: Pending.
Amicus Author: Aaron Marcus, Defender
Association of Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania Superior Court
New Cases Pending in which PACDL
Submitted an Amicus Since October 2017
Third Circuit Court of Appeals
Piasecki v. Court of Common Pleas, Bucks
County: Amicus Filed: November 3, 2017
(Defender Association of Philadelphia and
PACDL Joint Amicus)

52

For The Defense

l

Vol. 3, Issue 1

Commw v. Diaz: Amicus filed: October 19,
2017 (PACDL and Pennsylvania Legal Aid
Network Joint Amicus)
Nature of the case: Diaz owed
approximately $2346 in fines and costs.
Because he failed to make payments on the
fines and costs, a "fines and costs contempt
hearing" was scheduled. When Diaz



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018

Contents
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 1
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 2
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - Contents
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 4
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 5
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 6
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 7
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 8
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 9
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 10
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 11
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 12
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 13
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 14
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 15
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 16
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 17
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 18
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 19
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 20
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 21
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