Title: Commonwealth v. Walker, D. - No. (Granted) (petitions for allowance of appeal)
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: 432 EAL 2023
State: Pennsylvania
Issuer: Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Date: April 16, 2024

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA EASTERN DISTRICT COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, Respondent v. DERRICK WALKER, Petitioner : : : : : : : : : : : No. 432 EAL 2023 Petition for Allowance of Appeal from the Order of the Superior Court COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, Respondent v. DERRICK WALKER, Petitioner : : : : : : : : : : : No. 433 EAL 2023 Petition for Allowance of Appeal from the Order of the Superior Court COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, Respondent v. DERRICK WALKER, Petitioner : : : : : : : : : : : No. 434 EAL 2023 Petition for Allowance of Appeal from the Order of the Superior Court [432 EAL 2023, 433 EAL 2023 and 434 EAL 2023] - 2 ORDER PER CURIAM AND NOW, this 16th day of April, 2024, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is GRANTED. The issues, as stated by Petitioner, are: (1) Where this Court has previously split on the issue, what test should be employed in determining when ‘other act’ evidence satisfies the ‘common plan’ exception under Pa.R.E. 404(b); and under any of the possible tests approved by this Court, did the lower courts err by applying such a diluted standard that they improperly admitted prohibited propensity evidence under the guise of ‘common plan’? (2) Is the admission of a rape kit report by a forensic nurse after a forensic examination without any testimony by that nurse a violation of the Confrontation Clause and inadmissible hearsay?