IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
WESTERN DISTRICT
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, : No. 281 WAL 2018
:
Respondent :
: Petition for Allowance of Appeal from
: the Order of the Superior Court
v. :
:
:
DENNIS ANDREW KATONA, :
:
Petitioner :
ORDER
PER CURIAM
AND NOW, this 3rd day of January, 2019, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is
GRANTED. The issues, as stated by Petitioner are:
(1) Whether this Court should grant allowance of appeal to determine if the [e]n
[b]anc Superior Court decision conflicts with and renders meaningless this
Court’s definition of the Independent Source Doctrine as set forth in
Commonwealth v. Melendez, 676 A.2d 226 (Pa. 1996).
(2) Whether, assuming this Court agrees that in Issue [1], the [e]n [b]anc
Superior Court clearly misapplied the Independent Source Doctrine and
thus failed to address the primary issue in this case, allowance of appeal
should be granted to determine: - as a matter of first impression - if
Commonwealth v. Brion, 652 A.2d 287 (Pa. 1994) and 18 Pa.C.S.A. §
5704(2)(iv), require prior judicial approval (i.e. a separate search warrant or
order) for each separate entry of either a law enforcement agent or CI who
is seeking to record private conversations within a defendant’s residence.