Commonwealth v. Kirwan

KLEIN, J.:

¶ 1 The Commonwealth has appealed from an order granting Robert J. Kirwan, II’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. It claims that the lower court erred for three reasons:

1. It presented a prima facie case, so habeas corpus was improper;

2. The trial court should not have sustained the complaining witnesses’ assertion of their Fifth Amendment privilege against compulsory self-incrimination based solely on counsel’s representation that they were claiming the privilege; and

3. The evidentiary record was insufficient to permit the privilege.

¶ 2 Construing all the evidence in the…