Rolf Larsen

The case concerned a lawsuit by police officer Thomas Sherk and his wife against Harrisburg State Hospital and other defendants, alleging that the hospital negligently released a psychiatric patient who later attacked and injured Sherk during an arrest. The hospital filed preliminary objections asserting sovereign immunity and seeking dismissal of the complaint. The trial court overruled the objections, the Commonwealth Court reversed and ordered dismissal, and the Supreme Court reversed that decision, allowing the case to proceed. The court's reasoning focused on whether the facts pleaded fell within a statutory exception to sovereign immunity under the relevant provisions of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, particularly regarding medical-professional liability and care of patients.

torts & liabilityhealthcareprocedure

The case concerned Larry Rush's convictions for aggravated assault and possessing an instrument of crime after a jury trial in Philadelphia County, stemming from a stabbing attack on a bookstore employee in 1987. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court examined two alleged trial errors: the judge's response to a jury note inquiring about recommending psychiatric treatment, which went beyond the question and informed jurors that a guilty verdict would automatically trigger a psychiatric evaluation, and the admission of hearsay testimony implying that Rush had made a distinctive picture frame. Although the Superior Court had found these errors harmless, the Supreme Court held that they were not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because the hearsay could have bolstered the identification evidence and the jury instruction may have affected deliberations. The court therefore vacated the judgments of sentence and remanded the matter for a new trial.

criminal lawprocedure

The case involved a school bus driver employed by Penn Hills School District who missed seven non-consecutive work days in January 1978 due to school closures from severe snow, and who applied for unemployment compensation benefits for those days. The Bureau of Employment Security, referee, and Unemployment Compensation Board of Review all granted benefits after finding the claimant able and available for work, but the Commonwealth Court reversed en banc, holding as a matter of law that the claimant was unavailable because the unemployment was brief and she intended to return to the same employer. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed the Commonwealth Court, ruling that the claimant was entitled to benefits. The core reasoning was that section 401(d) of the Unemployment Compensation Law requires only factual availability for suitable work, which the Board properly found here; the Act's public policy in section 3 provides compensation for involuntary unemployment through no fault of the employee, and the special disqualification provisions for educational employees between academic terms or during holiday recesses do not apply to weather-related mid-year closures.

labor & employment

In this case, Andre Shaw was retried and convicted of second-degree murder and aggravated robbery for his role in a 1972 robbery and shooting at a Philadelphia bar. The key dispute concerned the trial court's admission into evidence of a co-defendant's written confession, which was shown to the witness multiple times to refresh his memory but which the witness claimed not to recall in detail. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed the convictions, ruling that the confession qualified for admission under the past recollection recorded hearsay exception because it was based on the witness's firsthand knowledge, created shortly after the events, vouched for as truthful by the witness, and the witness lacked sufficient present recollection to testify fully.

criminal lawprocedure

The case concerned Act 69 of 1980, which amended the Public Utility Code to allow the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) greater flexibility in addressing inadequate taxicab service in Philadelphia by granting temporary operating certificates and exercising discretion over certificate transfers. Yellow Cab Company filed an application to transfer one operating certificate to another company and then sought a preliminary injunction in Commonwealth Court to compel the PUC to decide the application by a specific deadline. The Commonwealth Court granted a mandatory preliminary injunction ordering a decision by September 1, 1980. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed and dissolved the injunction, holding that the statute conferred broad discretion on the PUC without imposing time limits on transfer applications, that Yellow Cab had not demonstrated a clear legal right to expedited processing, and that the standards for granting a mandatory preliminary injunction had not been met.

business & regulatoryprocedure

The case concerned whether the Franklin County Prison Board could refuse to implement an interest arbitration award resolving a collective bargaining impasse with prison guards under section 805 of the Public Employe Relations Act (Act 195). The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board found the refusal an unfair labor practice and ordered implementation, a decision affirmed by the trial court but reversed by the Commonwealth Court. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania reversed the Commonwealth Court and reinstated the trial court's order, holding that the section 805 proviso rendering awards advisory applies only when a local legislative body actually refuses to enact required measures, and that the Prison Board's defense based on the County Code's salary board provisions did not justify non-implementation here, particularly for non-compensation items. The court reasoned that allowing unilateral employer refusal would undermine the statutory scheme for binding arbitration in public employee disputes.

labor & employment