The right to counsel attaches at the same time under both the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution: at the defendant's initial appearance before a judicial officer. Therefore, there is no right to counsel at a post-arrest stage such as chemical breath testing.

Indigent defendants do not have a constitutional right to compel appointed counsel to press nonfrivolous points upon demand. Counsel, as a matter of professional judgment, may decide not to present those points.

Counsel is effective when they pursue a case according to the expressed wishes of a competent client, even the facts of the case suggest alternative, possibly superior legal approaches.

The effective assistance of counsel includes the right to separate counsel for codefendants when their attorney brings a motion to withdraw because of a conflict of interest.

Pointing a gun through closed door at woman and demanding to be let in is not an aggravated assault. "[The] words and actions in the instant case are in the nature of implied conditional threat, i.e., either let me into the house or I may shoot you. Such a threat, conditioned on the victim's performance of some act, is insufficient to prove aggravated assault. This is because the stated condition goes to the declarant's present intent at the time the threat is issued." Such actions, however, are sufficient to constitute simple assault.

If the court finds that a juvenile has committed the acts alleged in a delinquency petition, then it must enter an order finding the child delinquent. Only after entering an order of delinquency may the court inquire whether the child is actually delinquent – that is, in need of treatment, rehabilitation, or supervision.

When a juvenile is adjudicated dependent, the juvenile can only be placed in a Department of Public Welfare-approved shelter and cannot be placed in a secure state facility. The Juvenile Act, 42 Pa.C.S. § 6327(e) and § 6351(c), do not permit the detention of non-delinquent juveniles in secure facilities unless they are awaiting a hearing for a delinquent or criminal offense.