Ohio

Thanks to tip, court security found 2-inch blade brought to court by defendant, authorities say

Authorities said they found a weapon on a defendant in an Ohio courthouse last week, but might have missed it if they hadn’t been tipped about it in advance. Donald Moore III, 35, was in Elyria Municipal Court for an eviction case. Although the courthouse ordinarily has just a metal…

Mar 31, 2016 12:35 PM CDT

Botched execution attempt doesn’t preclude a second try, Ohio Supreme Court says

The state of Ohio may execute a convicted killer after botching a former lethal injection attempt, the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled. In a 4-3 decision (PDF) on Wednesday, the court said a second attempt to execute Romell Broom did not violate the Constitution, report the Associated Press, the Washington…

Mar 17, 2016 10:38 AM CDT

Case cracked: Neighbor accused of egging senior’s home over 100 times faces felony vandalism charge

Police say they have cracked the case of an Ohio senior citizen whose home was reportedly pelted with eggs more than 100 times in little over a year. After hundreds of man-hours of investigation that included stakeouts, questioning of neighbors, a surveillance camera and DNA testing, former neighbor Jason Kozan,…

Mar 17, 2016 10:00 AM CDT

Deep-sea treasure hunter stays in jail as judge awaits ‘epiphany’ about 500 gold coins

Arrested in Florida in January 2015 after several years on the lam, deep-sea treasure hunter Tommy Thompson pleaded guilty a few months later to contempt of court for failing to appear before a federal judge in 2012 and answer questions. But before he can even begin serving his two-year criminal…

Mar 14, 2016 3:50 PM CDT

Ex-prosecutor gets stayed suspension for using fake Facebook account to contact alibi witnesses

The Ohio Supreme Court has imposed a stayed one-year suspension on a former prosecutor who created a fake Facebook account to contact two alibi witnesses in a murder case. The per curiam opinion said the conduct of former Cuyahoga County prosecutor Aaron James Brockler was “an isolated incident in an…

Mar 2, 2016 5:45 AM CST

2 of 3 suspects take pleas in armed invasion of federal judge’s home

Two of three suspects in a December invasion of a federal judge’s home in which she and her attorney husband were held at gunpoint have taken pleas. Darrell Kinney and Terry Jackson Jr., both 21, are expected to get hefty prison terms and could serve nearly 20 years behind bars…

Mar 1, 2016 3:40 PM CST

Federal judge feels tricked into ‘chicanery, duplicity and mendacity’ in Stan Chesley matter

A federal judge in Toledo, Ohio, has ordered disbarred tort lawyer Stan Chesley and his lawyers to appear before him next month to explain whether they committed a fraud on the court. U.S. District Judge James Carr said he was unaware that Chesley had allegedly failed to comply with a…

Feb 23, 2016 5:45 AM CST

Penalized for writing bar exam after it ended, woman passed but had admission delayed

Observed by fellow applicants continuing to write after time was called during the Multistate Bar Exam portion of the July 2014 bar exam in Ohio, a 2013 law graduate of Case Western Reserve University faced a double whammy. After an inquiry, the Board of Bar Examiners imposed a 16.7 percent…

Feb 12, 2016 3:55 PM CST

Lawyer who won $390K for clients at trial must pay $11K for alerting media about case

An Ohio lawyer is appealing a judge’s order requiring him to pay $11,000 to the defense, after winning $390,000 for the plaintiffs in a tort case, because he alerted a newspaper about the lawsuit. Attorney Peter Pattakos was sanctioned for telling a friend who is a Cleveland Scene editor about…

Feb 1, 2016 4:45 PM CST

Lawyer accused of sending false texts to client who was stabbed outside his office

A Cleveland lawyer is accused of sending false text messages to a client stabbed to death outside his law office in 2013. According to prosecutors, the text messages sent by lawyer Gregory J. Moore to the client, Aliza Sherman, falsely indicated he was in the office waiting for her arrival…

Jan 29, 2016 8:30 AM CST

Lawyer sues docs over shaken-baby diagnosis, state for taking away her kids

A lawyer in Toledo, Ohio, claims in a lawsuit that doctors wrongly diagnosed her daughter with shaken baby syndrome, and the state removed both daughters from her care without justification. Lawyer Molly Blythe of Holland, Ohio, filed the suit (PDF) on Jan. 15, the Toledo Blade reports. The suit claims…

Jan 25, 2016 9:05 AM CST

Remaining case against suspended judge dismissed on Tuesday; top court stays jail term on Thursday

Hours before she was scheduled to be taken into custody on Friday, a suspended Ohio juvenile court judge got good news. The state’s highest court has ruled that Judge Tracie Hunter does not have to serve a six-month sentence for having an unlawful interest in a public contract until her…

Jan 22, 2016 2:35 PM CST

After mistrial in client extortion case, 2 law partners take plea involving no prison time

A former county bar association president and his law partner in a Youngstown, Ohio, firm have avoided prison time in a federal case over claimed extortion of a client convenience store owner. Originally charged with extortion and obstruction of justice, among other crimes, defendant attorneys Scott Cochran and Neal Atway…

Jan 20, 2016 4:45 PM CST

Former federal prosecutor settles with Justice Department for an estimated $1.8M

A former federal prosecutor who claimed retaliation led to his firing in January 2009 has settled with the U.S. Justice Department for an estimated $1.8 million. The former prosecutor is Thomas Gruscinski, who worked in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Cleveland before his firing in 2009, Cleveland.com reports. The National…

Jan 20, 2016 5:45 AM CST

Lawyer files suit seeking to remove ‘In God We Trust’ from US currency

A lawyer who previously fought without success to remove the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance has taken on a new constitutional battle over the rights of atheists. California attorney Michael Newdow filed a federal lawsuit Monday in Akron, Ohio, seeking to have the phrase “In God We…

Jan 13, 2016 4:55 PM CST