For the Defense - Vol. 3, Issue 2 - 2018 - 27

Superior Court affirmed the jury's conviction,
it vacated the judgment of sentence and
remanded for resentencing consistent with
Birchfield. The Superior Court found that "[b]
ecause the Birchfield Court held that the
practice of criminalizing the failure to consent to
warrantless blood testing following a DUI arrest is
unconstitutional, the trial court improperly relied
upon Section 3804(c)(3) in imposing a mandatory
minimum sentence upon Appellant." Prior to
addressing this issue, the Superior Court observed
that "[c]hallenges to a court's statutory authority
to impose a sentence implicate the legality of
sentence" and that "[i]t is well-settled that legality
of sentence questions may be raised sua sponte
by the Court." The prosecution filed a Petition
for Allowance of Appeal which the Supreme
Court granted. The issue, as set forth below, was
accepted as framed by the Commonwealth.
Allocatur grant: "Whether the Superior Court,
relying on Commonwealth v. Giron, 155 A.3d 635
(Pa. Super. 2017), improperly expanded the illegal
sentencing doctrine when it vacated Braddock's
sentence on a non-preserved constitutional issue,
holding that Birchfield v. North Dakota, --- U.S.
----, 136 S.Ct. 2160, 195 L.Ed.2d 560 (2016),
rendered enhanced penalties under 75 Pa.C.S.
ยงยง 3803-3804 illegal, even though Birchfield
recognized exigent circumstances or a search
warrant can still justify increased penalties for a
blood test refusal?"
Status: Pending
Amicus Authors: Leonard N. Sosnov, Karl
Baker and Keir Bradford-Grey of the Defender
Association of Philadelphia.

Pending Cases Previously Reported
Please see below the list of the pending cases
previously reported in which an Amicus brief has
been submitted by PACDL. For the nature of the
case and the issues presented by Amici, click here
to go to Volume 3, Issue 1 of For The Defense
(Feb. 2018).

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).

Pennsylvania Supreme Court
In re: AA: Amicus filed: September 20, 2017.
Commw. v. Delgros: Amicus Filed: August 10,
2017 (Defender Association of Philadelphia and
PACDL Joint Amicus).
Commw. v. Valdivia: Amicus Filed: May 15,
2017 (Defender Association of Philadelphia and
PACDL Joint Amicus).
Commw. v. Wilmer: Amicus Filed: October 17,
2017 (Defender Association of Philadelphia and
PACDL Joint Amicus).

Pennsylvania Superior Court
Commw v. Diaz: Amicus filed: October 19, 2017
(PACDL and Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network Joint
Amicus).
PANTONE

2955C

7406C

CMYK

90/78/39/30

9/22/91/0

RGB

22/58/92

234/194/56

HEXIDECIMAL

#153A5B

#EAC137

About the Author
Barbara Zemlock is a
partner in the law firm of
Perry Shore Weisenberger
Zemlock in Harrisburg. She
represents businesses and
individuals at both the
federal and state levels, at
all stages and in all types of
government investigations.
Ms. Zemlock is a past president of PACDL and a
co-chairperson of its Amicus Committee.

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Vol. 3, Issue 2

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For The Defense

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of For the Defense - Vol. 3, Issue 2 - 2018

Contents
For the Defense - Vol. 3, Issue 2 - 2018 - 1
For the Defense - Vol. 3, Issue 2 - 2018 - 2
For the Defense - Vol. 3, Issue 2 - 2018 - Contents
For the Defense - Vol. 3, Issue 2 - 2018 - 4
For the Defense - Vol. 3, Issue 2 - 2018 - 5
For the Defense - Vol. 3, Issue 2 - 2018 - 6
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