OPINION Justice EAKIN. Appellees, husband and wife, created The Dorothy M. Miller Family Irrevocable Trust in October, 2005. The trust names Mrs. Miller as settlor, and her and her husband as co-trustees. The sole beneficiaries of the trust are appellees and their only child. Pursuant to 2.01 of the trust, Mrs. Miller irrevocably "transfer[red], assign[ed] and deliver[ed] to the Trustees and their successors and assigns the assets listed on Schedule `A'[.]" Miller Trust, at 2. By deed...
ORDER PER CURIAM. AND NOW, this 16th day of December, 2013, the appeals are dismissed as having been improvidently granted.
OPINION Justice TODD. In this appeal, we consider whether Act 152 of 2004 ("Act 152"), 1 which makes various amendments to the Judicial Code, 2 violates the "single subject" rule of Article III, Section 3 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, 3 and, if so, whether the portions of Act 152 amending Pennsylvania's "Megan's Law" may be severed from the other provisions of Act 152 and remain in force. For reasons detailed at greater length herein, we conclude that Act 152 does violate Article III,...
OPINION Justice BAER. This is a direct appeal from an order of the York County Common Pleas Court, imposing a judgment of sentence of death following Appellant Kevin Edward Mattison's conviction for first degree murder. Because we conclude that the issues presented in this appeal lack merit, we affirm Appellant's sentence of death. 1 The record discloses that on the evening of December 9, 2008, Heather Johnson informed Tiffany Kenney that Kenney's boyfriend, Christian Agosto ("the...
OPINION Chief Justice CASTILLE. The issue in this appeal is whether the sentencing court properly ordered a convicted defendant, as a condition of probation, to pay amounts representing child support to the children of the victim of the defendant's crime (here, voluntary manslaughter). The Superior Court held that such a condition was not permitted as a matter of law, vacated the sentencing court's order and remanded for resentencing. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm on different...
ORDER PER CURIAM. This asbestos-litigation appeal is being resolved upon mutual consent among the parties, who agree that the order of the Superior Court should be reversed. Appellants were manufacturers or distributors of asbestos-containing products and are defendants in litigation initiated by John C. Ravert and later pursued by Appellees as co-executors of Mr. Ravert's estate. Mr. Ravert and Appellees contended that his exposure to Appellants' asbestos-containing products caused...
OPINION Justice EAKIN. We granted review to determine whether the admission of accuracy and calibration certificates for breath test machines without testimony from the individual who performed the testing and prepared the certificates violated appellant's Sixth Amendment right to confrontation. Under the circumstances of this case, we hold appellant's Sixth Amendment right was not violated, and affirm the order of the Superior Court. On November 28, 2009, Corporal James Patterson stopped a...
OPINION Justice SAYLOR. Challenging an express constitutional command and attendant judicial precedent, Petitioners seek to nullify the mandatory retirement provision of the Pennsylvania Constitution applicable to judicial officers. I. By way of background, in 1967-68, a limited constitutional convention was convened with the approval of Pennsylvania voters. Its purpose was to consider certain proposed changes to the state charter, including changes to Article V, which pertains to the...
OPINION Justice EAKIN. We granted allocatur to determine whether the Superior Court erred by declining to validate a restrictive covenant contained in an employment agreement, solely because the restrictive covenant was not expressly referenced in an initial offer letter which conditioned employment on the execution of the employment agreement. Upon concluding the Superior Court did not properly characterize the offer letter, we vacate and remand for further proceedings. In 2005, Pulse...
OPINION Justice EAKIN. Appellant appeals the Commonwealth Court's order affirming the trial court's ruling that testimony regarding a bona fide offer and the underlying offer letter itself could be introduced into evidence in a condemnation valuation trial. We affirm. Appellees owned a 166-acre farm in Lower Makefield Township. On December 6, 1996, appellant condemned the property in order to build a public golf course. Appellees filed preliminary objections challenging the validity of...
OPINION Chief Justice CASTILLE. This Court granted allocatur to consider whether a probation condition authorizing warrantless, suspicionless searches of a probationer's home violates statutory and constitutional precepts. For the reasons that follow, we vacate the order of the Superior Court on statutory grounds and remand for resentencing. This matter emanates from the Philadelphia Gun Court, a specialized court within the Court of Common Pleas. That body was instituted by the First...
OPINION Justice McCAFFERY. This is a direct appeal from the judgment of sentence of death on two counts of first-degree murder. We affirm. On April 21, 2010, Laquaille Bryant ("Appellant") pled guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the January 19, 2008 shooting deaths of Chante Wright 1 and Octavia Green, as well as to one count each of intimidation of a witness, possession of a firearm, and possession of an instrument of crime. 2 The Commonwealth's theory of the case was that...
OPINION Justice SAYLOR. Appeal was allowed to determine the limitation period that applies to an action on a guaranty executed under seal. Appellant, in his capacity as vice-president of Izett Manufacturing, Inc., executed a guaranty in connection with a loan agreement entered into by the company. The loan agreement entitled Izett Manufacturing to borrow up to $50,000 and was secured by a promissory note. The note and the guaranty both were dated September 9, 1999, and, pursuant to the...
OPINION Justice McCAFFERY. We are called upon here to determine whether the Superior Court erred in holding that the trial court abused its discretion in ordering a separate trial of the claims of four test-case, or "bellwether" plaintiffs, from among the 45 plaintiffs in this case. For the reasons set forth herein, we conclude that the Superior Court erred. This case stems from the underground leaking of gasoline from a gasoline station in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, which caused an explosion...
OPINION Chief Justice CASTILLE. This is the second set of direct appeals to this Court arising out of the work of the 2011 Legislative Reapportionment Commission ("LRC") of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Previously, we filed a per curiam order on January 25, 2012, and declared that the legislative redistricting plan filed by the LRC on December 12, 2011 (the "2011 Final Plan"), was contrary to law under Article II, Section 17(d) of the Pennsylvania Constitution, and in accordance with...
OPINION Justice BAER. In this appeal, we consider the interaction of the attorney-client privilege and the Right-to-Know Law, Act of February 14, 2008, P.L. 6, 65 P.S. 67.101-67.3104 ("RTKL"), in a case involving a journalist's request for documents relating to the legal representation of Senate Democratic Caucus employees. After review, we reaffirm the general rule that client identities are not protected by the attorney-client privilege but adopt specified exceptions to this general...
OPINION Justice BAER. We granted allowance of appeal to consider whether a deed executed in 1881, which reserved to the grantor the subsurface and removal rights of "one-half [of] the minerals and Petroleum Oils" contained beneath the subject property, includes within the reservation any natural gas contained within the shale foundation beneath the subject land known as the Marcellus Shale Formation. 1 The trial court in this matter, relying on the 1882 decision of this Court in Dunham &...
OPINION Justice SAYLOR. This case concerns the appropriate remedy, on direct appeal, for the constitutional violation occurring when a mandatory life-without-parole sentence has been imposed on a defendant convicted of first-degree murder, who was under the age of eighteen at the time of his offense. On February 7, 2006, Appellant, then fourteen years old, walked up the front porch steps of a house, shot Clarence Edwards in the head, and shot Corey Hilario in the back as the man attempted...
OPINION Justice TODD. In this capital case, Rasheed Simpson appeals the order of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas dismissing without a hearing his petition for relief under the Post Conviction Relief Act ("PCRA"), 42 Pa.C.S.A. 9541-46. We affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand for further proceedings as directed. I. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY A. Factual Background We recited the facts in support of Appellant's conviction at length in his direct appeal....
OPINION Chief Justice CASTILLE 1 . This appeal involves the assignment of the burden of proof in a workers' compensation case when the employer seeks to modify or suspend a claimant's benefits on the basis that the claimant has retired. The Commonwealth Court plurality devised a "totality of the circumstances" test and concluded that the employer in the case sub judice failed to show that the injured worker had voluntarily withdrawn from the workforce. For the reasons herein, we affirm the...
