Commonwealth v. Baird

In Commonwealth v. Baird, 2004 PA Super 295, 856 A.2d 114 (Pa. Super. 2004), the Court found that the sentencing court erred by sentencing Baird for possession of child pornography prior to his assessment and, accordingly, vacated the judgment of sentence and remanded for resentencing. The Court reasoned that because Baird had to comply with whatever Megan's law obligations were applicable to him, which depended upon whether he was determined to be an offender or a SVP, then "it makes sense that the sentencing court, at the time of sentencing, must inform an offender or SVP, as the case may be, of his or her registration obligations, as these obligations will differ depending on his classification. . . ." Id. at 116.