Philadelphia Criminal Defense Blog

Zak Goldstein 2/9/25 Zak Goldstein 2/9/25

Attorney Goldstein Wins Motion to Suppress Firearm

Philadelphia Criminal Defense Lawyer Zak Goldstein — Philadelphia Criminal Defense Lawyer Zak T. Goldstein, Esquire

Philadelphia criminal defense lawyer Zak T. Goldstein, Esquire, recently won a motion to suppress a firearm in the case of Commonwealth v. J.C. In J.C., the client was charged with carrying a firearm on the streets of Philadelphia (VUFA § 6108), possession of a concealed firearm without a license (VUFA § 6106), possession of a controlled substance (K&I), and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person (VUFA § 6105). Prosecutors claimed that J.C. had a firearm in the glovebox of his car and marijuana in a bag sitting on the back seat of the vehicle.

Attorney Goldstein filed a motion to suppress the physical evidence in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, arguing that the police improperly searched J.G.’s car without first obtaining a search warrant. Although they later obtained a search warrant before actually removing the gun from the vehicle, the police had already seen the gun due to the initial search before they obtained the warrant.

At a hearing on the motion, the Commonwealth called one of the arresting officers to testify as to the circumstances of the stop and search. The officer testified that they attempted to pull J.C. over for window tint. He initially pulled over right away, but then he started driving again for about half of a block. The police then pulled behind him again and waited for backup. As they were sitting and waiting for backup, they observed J.C. moving around the car in a furtive manner as if he were reaching for something, attempting to conceal something, or about to take off. They also believed that he was going to flee based on the way he was looking around.

Accordingly, once backup arrived, the police surrounded the car. J.C. repeatedly asked why they had stopped him and why they were trying to search the car. He provided them with his driver’s license, and he insisted that he had the registration and insurance paperwork on his phone. The police began to pull him out of the car, and he did not immediately go with them, so they then tased him. Once they tased him, they put him in handcuffs, arrested him, and took him to the hospital for medical treatment. After he was out of the car and had been tased, the officer looked in the glove box and saw a gun. The police then held the vehicle until detectives arrived and obtained a search warrant. At that point, they recovered the gun and the marijuana. J.C. had a criminal record which prohibited him from carrying a firearm, and he also did not have a license to carry.

Attorney Goldstein moved to suppress the evidence, arguing that the initial warrantless search of the vehicle was unconstitutional under the Pennsylvania Constitution and tainted the search warrant which the police obtained later. Attorney Goldstein also argued that the police did not have exigent circumstances for the search that would justify failing to get the warrant first.

Through cross-examination and body camera footage, Attorney Goldstein established that the police had not seen J.C. do anything other than drive a car that may have had window tint, he pulled over on command, he moved the car only about half a block before pulling over again, he told them that he had moved not to flee but because he was blocking traffic, and that they could not see in the car to see if he was actually doing anything while they were waiting for backup. Additionally, J.C. did not attempt to flee, he did not drive away, the police did not see any contraband in the vehicle, and he gave them his driver’s license. Accordingly, there was no actual reason to believe he was armed and dangerous. Further, once J.C. was out of the car and had been tased and arrested, the police were obviously not going to let him get back in the car. Instead, they had to take him to the hospital. Accordingly, under the recent case of Commonwealth v. Camacho, any exigent circumstances which might have justified a “frisk” of the vehicle and checking the glove box for a weapon had dissipated.

In general, the police must obtain a search warrant prior to searching a car. There are some exceptions, however. For example, the police may conduct a “frisk” of the passenger compartment of a vehicle for weapons when they have conducted a legal stop and they have reasonable suspicion to believe that the suspect is engaged in criminal activity and armed and dangerous. The frisk cannot be a search for evidence; instead, it is a search for weapons for officer safety purposes during the stop. Nervousness alone does not justify the frisk of a car, but nervousness along with furtive movements or other strange behavior may sometimes justify a frisk.

In this case, however, any need to conduct the frisk before obtaining a warrant ended when J.C. was removed from the car, tased, handcuffed, and arrested. At that point, even if he had initially posed some sort of threat to the officers’ safety, the threat had ended, and there was nothing preventing the officers from simply waiting until detectives could obtain a warrant. The trial judge agreed and granted the motion to suppress. The Commonwealth then withdrew the charges.

Facing criminal charges or appealing a criminal case in Pennsylvania?

Criminal Defense Lawyer Zak T. Goldstein, Esquire — Goldstein Mehta LLC Criminal Defense Lawyers

If you are facing criminal charges or under investigation by the police, we can help. 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 award-winning Philadelphia criminal defense lawyers offer a free criminal defense strategy session to any potential client. Call 267-225-2545 to speak with an experienced and understanding defense attorney today.

Zak Goldstein 10/8/24 Zak Goldstein 10/8/24

Attorney Goldstein Wins New Trial For Client Who Served 18 Years for Wrongful Attempted Murder Conviction

Criminal Defense Lawyer Zak Goldstein — Philadelphia Criminal Defense Lawyer Zak T. Goldstein, Esquire

Philadelphia criminal defense lawyer Zak T. Goldstein, Esquire, recently won a new trial for a client who served 18 years for a wrongful conviction for attempted murder. In 2006, the client, R.C., was arrested and charged along with three others for participating in shooting at an alleged rival from the neighborhood. The shots missed and struck a young child, seriously injuring him. R.C. and his co-defendants were charged with various counts of attempted murder and firearms offenses. The entire case depended on the testimony of one eyewitness who repeatedly told significantly different versions of the events. All four defendants proceeded by way of jury trial, and the jury convicted three of them. One of the four was acquitted by the Philadelphia jury.

About eight years later, one of the co-defendants filed and litigated a successful Post-Conviction Relief Act Petition alleging that his trial lawyer provided the ineffective assistance of counsel in failing to adequately prove that he could not have done the shooting because he was on video at the Gallery at the time of the shooting. The trial lawyer had introduced some of the video evidence at trial, but the trial lawyer had not obtained phone location data and receipts which further corroborated that that co-defendant could not have been there because he was in fact shopping miles away during the incident. The trial judge was eventually required by the Superior Court to grant that defendant a new trial, and the Commonwealth elected not to proceed with re-trying him.

Unfortunately, the co-defendant’s successful alibi exoneration did not result in any relief for R.C. or the other co-defendant who remains in custody. Fortunately, re-investigation of the case led to two leads in R.C.’s attempt to obtain justice. First, a review of the police file revealed the existence of a handwritten note which showed that police had five suspects from the beginning rather than the four that the sole eyewitness testified to. Further, the handwritten note actually had writing on it which suggested that R.C. never even fired a gun. This note was never provided to the defense. Second, the main eyewitness agreed to speak with an investigator, and she recanted her testimony. She ultimately said that she suspected R.C. may have been out there and part of the shooting because the fourth shooter wore all black, which R.C. was known to do, and had a similar build, but she was not sure that she had actually seen his face. Instead, she asserted that her husband had convinced her to say that it was R.C. who did the shooting even though she was not 100% sure that he was involved.

Armed with this new evidence, Attorney Goldstein filed a Post-Conviction Relief Act Petition alleging that the Commonwealth committed a Brady violation by failing to disclose the note to the defense and that the recantation qualified as after discovered evidence which required a new trial. The PCRA court conducted a full day evidentiary hearing to hear from various witnesses from the defense and the Commonwealth. The judge found the recanting witness credible and after 18 years, finally granted R.C. a new trial.

Facing criminal charges or appealing a criminal case in Pennsylvania?

Zak Goldstein 8/21/24 Zak Goldstein 8/21/24

Attorney Goldstein Wins Sentencing Appeal in Corrupt Organizations Case

Philadelphia criminal defense attorney Zak T. Goldstein, Esquire, recently won a sentencing appeal for a client in the case of Commonwealth v. S.G. In S.G., the defendant was convicted at trial in the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas of corrupt organizations, conspiracy to commit corrupt organizations, washing vehicle titles, and related charges for an alleged car title washing scheme. The trial court sentenced him to consecutive sentences on the corrupt organizations and conspiracy to commit corrupt organizations charges.

S.G. retained Attorney Goldstein for his appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court. Attorney Goldstein filed post-sentence motions and eventually an appeal. On appeal, Attorney Goldstein challenged whether the trial court could properly sentence S.G. to consecutive time on the conspiracy and corrupt organizations charges because S.G. had been convicted of the subsection of corrupt organizations that specifically requires participation in a conspiracy.

The corrupt organizations statute, 18 Pa.C.S. § 911, provides:

(b) Prohibited activities.--
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person who has received any income derived, directly or indirectly, from a pattern of racketeering activity in which such person participated as a principal, to use or invest, directly or indirectly, any part of such income, or the proceeds of such income, in the acquisition of any interest in, or the establishment or operation of, any enterprise: Provided, however, That a purchase of securities on the open market for purposes of investment, and without the intention of controlling or participating in the control of the issuer, or of assisting another to do so, shall not be unlawful under this subsection if the securities of the issue held by the purchaser, the members of his immediate family, and his or their accomplices in any pattern of racketeering activity after such purchase, do not amount in the aggregate to 1% of the outstanding securities of any one class, and do not confer, either in law or in fact, the power to elect one or more directors of the issuer: Provided, further, That if, in any proceeding involving an alleged investment in violation of this subsection, it is established that over half of the defendant's aggregate income for a period of two or more years immediately preceding such investment was derived from a pattern of racketeering activity, a rebuttable presumption shall arise that such investment included income derived from such pattern of racketeering activity.
(2) It shall be unlawful for any person through a pattern of racketeering activity to acquire or maintain, directly or indirectly, any interest in or control of any enterprise.
(3) It shall be unlawful for any person employed by or associated with any enterprise to conduct or participate, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of such enterprise's affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity.
(4) It shall be unlawful for any person to conspire to violate any of the provisions of paragraphs (1), (2) or (3) of this subsection.

S.G. was convicted of subsection 4, which specifically makes it illegal to conspire to violate any of the other provisions.

At the same time, the conspiracy statute, 18 Pa.C.S. § 903, makes the following conduct illegal:

(a) Definition of conspiracy.--A person is guilty of conspiracy with another person or persons to commit a crime if with the intent of promoting or facilitating its commission he:
(1) agrees with such other person or persons that they or one or more of them will engage in conduct which constitutes such crime or an attempt or solicitation to commit such crime; or
(2) agrees to aid such other person or persons in the planning or commission of such crime or of an attempt or solicitation to commit such crime.

Here, the trial court sentenced S.G. to consecutive time on both conspiracy to commit corrupt organizations and corrupt organizations - conspiracy. Attorney Goldstein argued that such a sentence was illegal because the two offenses merged for sentencing purposes.

When do offenses merge for sentencing?

The Superior Court agreed with the defense’s merger argument on appeal. It recognized that under § 9765 of the sentencing code,

No crimes shall merge for sentencing purposes unless the crimes arise from a single criminal act and all of the statutory elements of one offense are included in the statutory elements of the other offense. Where crimes merge for sentencing purposes, the court may sentence the defendant only on the higher graded offense.

42 Pa.C.S. § 9765

The Superior Court’s Ruling

In order to impose consecutive sentences, a sentencing court must find either that each statute contains an element that the other does not or that there was more than one criminal act involved in the violations of the statutes. In this case, conspiracy and corrupt organizations - conspiracy involve the exact same elements. That is, they both require an agreement to violate sections 1 - 3 of the corrupt organizations statute. Further, the Commonwealth introduced no evidence that S.G. entered into more than one conspiracy. Accordingly, the Superior Court found that the convictions should have merged for sentencing purposes, making it illegal for the court to impose consecutive sentences.

The Superior Court remanded the case for a new sentencing hearing in the Court of Common Pleas. Attorney Goldstein represented S.G. at the new sentencing hearing and obtained a reduced sentence which made him immediately eligible for parole.

Facing criminal charges or appealing a criminal case in Pennsylvania?

Zak Goldstein 7/19/24 Zak Goldstein 7/19/24

Attorney Goldstein again selected to Superlawyers Rising Stars list

Philadelphia Criminal Defense Lawyer Zak T. Goldstein, Esquire

Zak T. Goldstein, Esquire, has been selected to the 2024 Pennsylvania Superlawyers Rising Stars list. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor. Super Lawyers, part of Thomson Reuters, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys. The Super Lawyers lists are published nationwide in Super Lawyers magazines and in leading city and regional magazines and newspapers across the country. Super Lawyers magazines also feature editorial profiles of attorneys who embody excellence in the practice of law. For more information about Super Lawyers, visit SuperLawyers.com.

Read Attorney Goldstein’s Profile on Superlawyers.com