Pennsylvania v. Hanson (majority)
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The issue on appeal before the Supreme Court in this matter involved questions of statutory construction pertaining to the five-year mandatory minimum sentence attaching to the offense of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver while in possession or control of a firearm. Specifically, the Supreme Court considered the meaning of the terms "control of a firearm" and "close proximity," as used in Section 9712.1(a), including the interrelationship between "control" and the concept of constructive possession as it appears in several Superior Court decisions. Appellant was charged with PWID, simple possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of an instrument of crime (the handgun). At a pre-trial conference, Appellant argued that the charge of possession of an instrument of crime should have been quashed, "given [the] lack of nexus between [Appellant] and that weapon and someone else's room." A common pleas judge quashed the charge, without explaining the reasoning underlying such ruling. The Supreme Court remanded the case for resentencing, with the admonition that imposition of the mandatory sentence under Section 9712.1(a) was not foreclosed. Should the lower court determine that the Commonwealth did not establish by a preponderance that Appellant was in constructive control of the firearm, the court should implement individualized sentencing, "per the usual practices."
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