DueProcess FifthAmendment HabeasCorpus CriminalProcedure Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri
Whether the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's refusal to review the Trial Court's Denial Order on a Petition for Habeas Corpus Relief, in a case where adjudication was based solely on hearsay evidence, is immediately appealable to the United States Supreme Court under the Collateral Order Doctrine
QUESTIONS PRESENTED A. Whether the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s refusal to review the Trial Court’s Denial Order on a Petition for Habeas Corpus Relief, in a case where adjudication was based solely on hearsay evidence, is immediately appealable to the United States Supreme Court under the Collateral Order Doctrine. B. Whether Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 542(E) violates a defendant’s fundamental right to Due Process, in that it directly conflicts with this Court’s decision in Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 119 (1975), which held that “the determination of probable cause must be accompanied by the full panoply of adversary safeguards -— counsel, confrontation, cross-examination, and compulsory process for witnesses.” C. Whether Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 542(E) denies a defendant his Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel, despite counsel’s physical presence at a preliminary hearing, when counsel is denied the ability to meaningfully crossexamine witnesses with first-hand knowledge of the evidence against the accused and where the Commonwealth relies solely upon hearsay evidence to establish a prima facie case. i