Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Two University Of Pittsburgh Students Face Criminal Charges For Abusing A Corpse
When most people write their wills, they indicate their wishes about the final disposition of their remains. For example, they might wish to be buried next to their parents in a certain cemetery, or they might wish to have their remains cremated and then scattered over Lake Erie. Some choose alkaline hydrolysis, in which… Read More »
Prosecutors Drop Charges Against Teen Wounded At Amusement Park Shooting
The dramatic courtroom scenes where a defendant’s lawyer leaves a witness speechless or leaves the jury with reasonable doubt about the defendant’ guilt are the exception to the rule, but they only account for a fraction of the times that criminal defense lawyers are able to present convincing arguments about a defendant’s innocence, thereby… Read More »
Home Contractor Gets Prison Time For Defrauding Clients In Southwestern Pennsylvania
Home remodeling can be a lucrative business, and using your problem-solving abilities to build structures within a house, or even entire houses, is as emotionally rewarding as it is financially rewarding, but to succeed in the home contracting business, you need to have a thick skin about complaints from customers. Even when you are… Read More »
Is Medical Ketamine The New Medical Cannabis?
Thirty years ago, Dr. Dre’s The Chronic blasted from the stereo system of every car where the air inside the vehicle was noticeably thicker than the air outside the vehicle. During boring classes, high school students would doodle pot leaves in their notebooks and write “legalize it” in stylized letters. Elsewhere, old friends in… Read More »
Western Pennsylvania Father And Son Get Prison Sentences And Federal Supervised Release For Cocaine Trafficking Operation
Ask anyone who has served a prison sentence what helped them get through it, and many of them will say that it was frequent visits from their family or looking forward to going home and sitting at the family dinner table after their release. Your family can be a huge source of emotional support… Read More »
The Trouble With Pennsylvania Cannabis DUI Laws
It isn’t a case of last night’s edibles messing with your mind; Pennsylvania’s cannabis laws are confusing. Pennsylvania has a robust medical cannabis program that has operated continuously since 2016, and twelve cities, including Pittsburgh, have decriminalized possession of small quantities of cannabis for personal use, as has all of Delaware County. Therefore, millions… Read More »
Two Harrisburg Women Get Prison Sentences For Running Drug Trafficking Operation Out Of Independently Owned Restaurants
No two grandmothers are alike, so don’t believe the stereotypes. Not everyone’s grandmother is old enough to qualify for Medicare, for example. Some matriarchs go by Grandma, while others prefer to be called Granny, Nana, Mimi, Mammaw, or any of a host of other titles. Definitely don’t believe the hype about grandmothers being helpless… Read More »
Pharmacist Gets Prison Sentence For Fraudulent Dealings At Pharmacy
Whether or not brand names matter is a common source of dispute between fashion-conscious teens and their frugal parents. Perhaps you were the laughing stock of your high school when you showed up in store brand combat boots or generic basketball sneakers from Walmart when all your classmates were wearing Dr. Martens or Converse. … Read More »
Can A Broken Taillight Lead To An Arrest?
It’s 2023, and everyone is busy. With the costs of necessities skyrocketing, everyone is living paycheck to paycheck, whether they have salaried jobs supplemented by gigs or are full-time participants in the gig economy. The laid back days of the pandemic, when there was nothing to do but binge watch TV shows and wait… Read More »
An End To Sentencing Disparities Between Crack Cocaine And Powder Cocaine?
In the 1980s, politicians and the media aimed to make people afraid of crack cocaine, and they succeeded. Elementary school students in the 80s received lessons in health class about the dangers of drugs. Some of the drugs seemed perfectly harmless; most kids had seen their neighbors, if not their own parents, drinking alcohol… Read More »
