PA Superior Court Vacates Life Sentence and Orders New Trial in Franklin County Murder Case After Attorney Goldstein Wins PCRA Appeal

Criminal Defense Lawyer Zak T. Goldstein, Esquire

Attorney Goldstein recently won a major victory in the Pennsylvania Superior Court as the Court reversed the denial of his client’s Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) petition, vacated the judgment of sentence, and remanded the case for a new trial.

Attorney Goldstein’s client had been convicted following a ten-day jury trial in Franklin County of second-degree murder, burglary, robbery, and three counts of conspiracy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder conviction and a consecutive aggregate sentence of 28 to 56 years’ imprisonment on the remaining charges. Attorney Goldstein entered his appearance as PCRA counsel, filed an amended PCRA petition, and represented the client through the PCRA evidentiary hearing and subsequent appeal to the Superior Court.

The central issue on appeal involved trial counsel’s failure to move to suppress evidence obtained from a cell phone that police had searched without a warrant. After the client’s arrest, law enforcement directed Maryland State Police to power on the client’s iPhone and call a suspected phone number to confirm the phone’s connection to that number — all before obtaining a search warrant. The evidence obtained from the phone, including text messages, photographs, rap lyrics, and data linking the client to a co-defendant, formed the backbone of the Commonwealth’s case.

Attorney Goldstein argued that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to file a motion to suppress the cell phone evidence under Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (2014), which categorically requires police to obtain a warrant before searching a cell phone. The Superior Court agreed on all three prongs of the ineffectiveness test. First, the Court found the underlying suppression claim had arguable merit, holding that the police’s actions of powering on the iPhone and calling the suspected number constituted a warrantless search under the law as it existed at the time of trial without relying on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s later decision in Commonwealth v. Fulton, 179 A.3d 475 (Pa. 2018). The Court further found that the warrant subsequently obtained for the phone was tainted because probable cause to search the phone depended entirely on the information unlawfully obtained through the initial warrantless search.

Second, the Court found trial counsel had no reasonable basis for failing to file the suppression motion. At the PCRA hearing, trial counsel testified he had no recollection of even considering the suppression issue and was unaware of Riley or any other relevant caselaw.

Third, the Court found prejudice, concluding the cell phone evidence was a critical factor in the Commonwealth’s case. The Court noted that of the six testifying eyewitnesses, only one cooperator unequivocally identified the client at trial, the lead investigator acknowledged that no forensic evidence linked the client to the crime scene, and the investigator described the iPhone as the only physical evidence connecting the client to the robbery and murder. Without the cell phone evidence, the Commonwealth’s case was, in the Court’s words, only weakly supported by the record.

This is an important decision addressing warrantless cell phone searches under Riley and the scope of ineffective assistance of counsel claims in PCRA proceedings, and the Court issued a published opinion in this case.

Facing Criminal Charges or a Wrongful Conviction?

Criminal Defense Attorney Zak Goldstein

If you or a loved one has been wrongfully convicted or believes that the prosecution withheld evidence in your case, we can help. Our award-winning Philadelphia criminal defense lawyers offer a free criminal defense strategy session to any potential client. We have successfully defended thousands of clients against criminal charges in courts throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. We have successfully obtained full acquittals and dismissals in cases involving charges such as Conspiracy, Aggravated Assault, Rape, Violations of the Uniform Firearms Act, and First-Degree Murder. We have also won criminal appeals and PCRAs in state and federal court, including the successful direct appeal of a first-degree murder conviction and the exoneration of a client who spent 33 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Our experienced criminal defense lawyers are typically available for same-day phone consultations and in-person meetings so that we can begin investigating your case, obtaining exculpatory evidence, and planning your defense. Call 267-225-2545 for a free criminal defense strategy session.