Criminal defense Lawyer
Practice Areas: Criminal Defense, Divorce & Separation ... +2 more
OUTCOME: Favorable
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held in favor of Attorney Engle's clients that Township Board violated the First Class Township Code by passing a reapportionment ordinance without court involvement. Tow ... nship ordinance lacking judicial approval to alter its one-ward at-large system back to a by-ward system was not reapportionment and thus was void.
OUTCOME: Judgment received by Attorney Engle was affirmed in the intermediate appellate court
Attorney Engle represented the Dauphin County Board of Assessment Appeals in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. The trial court determined that several homes in Dauphin County were not tax exempt ... . The Appellant, Foundation for Elder Care, argued that the homes advanced a charitable purpose and relieved the government of some of its burden and requested that the homes be exempt from real estate tax exemption. Attorney Engle prevailed by having the Commonwealth Court rule in favor of the trial court determination. The homes were not subject to exemption from real estate taxes.
OUTCOME: Megan's Law III held Unconstitutional
84 A.3d 603, 2013 Pa. LEXIS 3018, 2013 WL 6598735 (Pa. 2013) Supreme Court of Pennsylvania COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. James Howard NEIMAN, Jr., Appellant. Argued September 11, 2012. Decide ... d December 17, 2013. Jeffrey B. Engle, Attorney for Appellant Synopsis Megan's Law III Statute deemed unconstitutional Background: Defendant was convicted in the Court of Common Pleas, Schuylkill County, Criminal Division, Nos. CP-54-CR-0001870-2005, CP-54-CR-0001871-2005, Baldwin, J., of numerous sexual offenses against two child victims, was sentenced to aggregate term of 13 ½ to 27 years imprisonment, was found to be a sexually violent predator, and was ordered to comply with lifetime registration obligations under "Megan's Law." Defendant appealed. Holdings: The Supreme Court held in Commonwealth v. Neiman that the Megan's Law III, as well as other legislative pronouncements, contained within Act 152 were passed in violation of Article III, Section 3, known as the "single subject rule."
OUTCOME: Teacher reinstated but with no back pay for 1 1/2 years
Teacher was suspended without pay pending termination for violations of PSSA testing protocols. Teacher's association, CDEA, and teacher grieved the termination and an arbitrator reversed CDSD's termin ... ation action, but upheld the suspension without pay (one and a half years). Teacher was reinstated but later resigned due to another episode of professional misconduct.
OUTCOME: Charges dismissed
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Perry County, 246-CR-2011 v. Tara Keener Attorney Jeffrey B. Engle Charge: Unauthorized Entry onto a School Bus, 18 PaC.S.A. §5517 Tara Keener, a marrie ... d, registered nurse and mother of two young boys, found herself in a terrible situation after an incident at her home in December 2010. Her oldest son, Xander, age 5, was being dropped off that afternoon by Dum's Bus Service at their house in New Bloomfield, Perry County. As she approached the bus, the doors opened, she could hear two other children yelling that they "couldn't wake him up!" and "he wasn't moving!" The driver yelled twice for the child, to no avail. Tara, relying on her training as an emergency room nurse, realized that there could be any number of scenarios that would cause her child to be unresponsive. Could it be a seizure, is he choking, is his blood sugar low and he passed out? The potential problems raced through her mind. After all, the child had an individual education plan (IEP) for speech and language deficits. There was a history of hypoglycemia and diabetes in the family, but Xander never had any problems...or did he? As she raced through the open bus door and onto the bus her mind raced. On April 2, 2011, the PA State Police reversed course and filed a criminal complaint against Tara Keener. The charge- Unlawful Entry onto a School Bus, a misdemeanor of the third degree, punishable by up to one (1) year in jail and a $2,500 fine. The registered nurse was now an accused criminal. She had to report to the Newport State Police barracks for fingerprinting and a mug shot. Her name appeared in the 'In Brief' section of the newspaper. She had to tell her employer about the incident, as was the employer's internal policy. If she didn't and they found out, she would be terminated. Her character and good name was now tarnished. How we used the media to solve this case This case was a shock to the local community. An emergency room nurse charged with trying to help her own son? I received a flurry of letters in my office supporting Tara. I spoke to the District Attorney about dropping the case without success. He was intransigent. I decided to try the case in the Court of Public Opinion instead. If the District Attorney was refusing to listen to sound reason from me, perhaps he'd be willing to listen to others in the community, like the ones that were writing to me on a daily basis. We leaked the story to a local newspaper. The Patriot News reported on the incident in July 2011. The story garnered front page coverage on July 26 and July 28, 2011. 'Pennlive,' a local blogsite for the Patriot News, had over 170 comments and 700 'Facebook' hits because of the story in one day. Local TV news outlets also picked up the story. ABC news 27, Fox news 43, and CBS news 21 all interviewed Tara at my office. This case was a real 'head scratcher.' We contacted national media outlets as well. There was interest from the folks at the 'Today Show,' 'Fox N Friends' and MSNBC. The story hit the national scene on Wednesday, July 27 on 'Fox N Friends' during their morning news segment. By 12:57 p.m. that same day, the District Attorney had filed an application with the court for a nolle prosequi (a request to drop the charge). We went on national TV live on the morning of July 28, 2011 at 8:15 am and reported on 'Fox N Friends' that the District Attorney had now reversed course, once again. He was dropping the charges.
OUTCOME: CDSD won permanent injunctive request
Defendant, Stephen Garisto, was permanently enjoined by the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas, Turgeon, J., from approaching students of Central Dauphin while students were at bus stop. Mr. Garisto ... was handing out religious literature, hot cocoa, and cookies to elementary students. The Court ruled that the District's requirements to provide a safe and secure loading area for students at stop overrides Mr. Garisto's right to free speech.
OUTCOME: Judgment affirmed
780 A.2d 721 Superior Court of Pennsylvania. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. Thomas Lee EDRINGTON, Appellee. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Thomas Lee Edrington, Appell ... ant. Submitted March 19, 2001.Filed July 20, 2001. Jeffrey B. Engle, Attorney for Appellant Synopsis After defendant pled guilty to aggravated assault and other charges, the Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin County, Criminal Division, No. 3974 C.D. 1999, Hoover, J., sentenced defendant to 10 to 20 years' incarceration on aggravated assault charge. Commonwealth appealed, and defendant cross-appealed. The Superior Court, Nos. 1651 MDA 2000 and 1897 MDA 2000, Kelly, J., held that: (1) Commonwealth's challenge to legality of sentence was cognizable on appeal, despite Commonwealth's failure to file a concise statement of matters complained of; (2) defendant was third-time violent offender subject to mandatory prison term of no less than 25 years; and (3) defendant's failure to timely file notice of cross-appeal divested court of jurisdiction. Judgment of sentence vacated; case remanded; jurisdiction relinquished.
Ad
Transform legal challenges into solutions.
Connect now to review your situation.
