Ohio

‘All the judges do it,’ says jurist of comments she made to new judge on her former case

When asked to recuse herself from a criminal case in which the newly appearing defense attorney was her husband’s divorce lawyer, an Ohio judge did so. But after the Hamilton County criminal case was reassigned, Common Pleas Judge Leslie Ghiz offered her thoughts about the case to the new judge…

May 31, 2013 6:50 PM CDT

Fake-legal-matter thefts net 90-day sentence for Fujitec’s former US legal chief

A former chief legal and administrative officer for the U.S. arm of an international Japan-based elevator manufacturing company has been sentenced to 90 days for stealing $150,000 from his then-employer for faking legal matters. Darren Courtney reached a plea deal with prosecutors in March, but he has since been threatened…

May 15, 2013 7:00 PM CDT

$8M bond for Cleveland man facing kidnap, rape charges over the 3 women freed Monday

Updated: The owner of a Cleveland home where authorities say they found three women missing for a decade alive earlier this week has been charged with kidnapping and rape, and is being held with an $8 million bond, according to Reuters. Ariel Castro, 52, was charged with three counts of…

May 8, 2013 10:12 PM CDT

Police find three longtime missing women after frantic 911 call; case had former false starts

Updated: Police have arrested three brothers after receiving a frantic 911 call from a woman who told police she had escaped from a home in Cleveland after being kidnapped 10 years ago. Three women—Amanda Berry, 27; Gina DeJesus, 23; and Michelle Knight, 32—were found on Monday at a home near…

May 7, 2013 12:13 PM CDT

Judge faces discipline case for dismissing lawyer’s speeding ticket

Disciplinary counsel for the Ohio Supreme Court is seeking to sanction a Franklin County Municipal Court judge for dismissing a lawyer’s speeding ticket. Attorney Patrick M. Quinn had been ticketed in November 2011 for doing 81 mph in a 65-mph zone. Judge Harland H. Hale, who was being represented by…

May 3, 2013 6:39 PM CDT

Victim blinked to ID defendant, police say; videotape will be shown to murder trial jury

Shot in the head and neck on Oct. 28, 2010, David Chandler was initially paralyzed and then, about two weeks later, he died. But meanwhile, hooked up to a ventilator and unable to speak, he identified, by blinking three times, the man who prosecutors say shot him. A videotape of…

Apr 29, 2013 7:37 PM CDT

Attorney withdraws from murder defense after being charged with groping client’s mom at law office

Criminally charged with felony gross sexual imposition after prosecutors say he exposed himself and fondled the breasts of a client’s mother at his law office during an April 4 meeting, an Ohio attorney has now withdrawn from the murder defense of the woman’s son. Javier Armengau denies any wrongdoing but…

Apr 16, 2013 4:35 PM CDT

Lawyer is charged in alleged office groping incident; will tapes support prosecution?

A prominent criminal defense lawyer in Columbus, Ohio, has been accused of exposing himself and fondling a client’s mother during a meeting in his office. Lawyer Javier Armengau is free on bond on a charge of felony gross sexual imposition, according to the Columbus Dispatch. Armengau told 10TV that his…

Apr 12, 2013 3:31 PM CDT

Let cameras in, Ohio chief justice tells SCOTUS

What did the public take from recent U.S. Supreme Court arguments regarding same-sex marriage? Images of people standing around outside–and that’s exactly why the justices should allow cameras in the courtroom, according to Maureen O’Connor, chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. An opinion piece detailing her thoughts ran April…

Apr 8, 2013 7:43 PM CDT

Appeals court reverses $68K verdict against lawyer over claimed termite damage in home prior to sale

Updated: When Sarah Seitz first saw her dream home, it contained only a couch in the living room, a spare tile in one bedroom closet and some window coverings on the floor of another bedroom closet. All, it turned out, concealed termite damage in the home that attorney Anne C.…

Apr 1, 2013 4:43 PM CDT

Joseph Kelner, attorney who sued sitting Ohio governor over Kent State slayings, is dead at 98

Joseph Kelner, a personal injury attorney best known for the litigation battle he fought, and arguably won, over an iconic Vietnam War protest at Kent State University, has died. He was 98 years old. A former president of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association and the American Trial Lawyers…

Mar 8, 2013 7:55 PM CST

Sued by bank, lawyer says he was also victimized by client’s $297K check scam

An Ohio lawyer is now embroiled in litigation after apparently being victimized in an overseas check scam perpetrated by a purported client. F. Stephen Chamberlain says he deposited a $297,500 cashier’s check into his Union Bank trust account and, after being assured by a JPMorgan Chase Bank representative that the…

Feb 27, 2013 6:58 PM CST

Lawyer’s indictment delays client’s murder trial

Convicted of murder earlier this month and sentenced to 18 years to life, Lamar Simmons, 35, was facing a second murder trial on Monday in an unrelated Ohio case. But it had to be delayed after Simmons’ defense lawyer, Greg Cohen, was indicted. The attorney is accused of trying to…

Feb 27, 2013 5:58 PM CST

Man who punched his own lawyer is convicted, gets 34 years, plus 6 months, and faces new charges

A man who punched his own lawyer in the face last week when the attorney argued against the client’s desire to fire him has been acquitted on an an attempted murder count even though he subsequently appeared in front of the Ohio jury in restraints. But Dionte Lummus was convicted…

Feb 11, 2013 11:30 PM CST

Why this client ended up in restraints at trial

When 20-year-old Dionte Lummus told an Ohio judge Monday that he wanted to fire the lawyer who is defending him in an attempted-murder trial, attorney Will Oswall said it wouldn’t be fair to his client to lose his counsel midtrial. At that point, Lummus threw a punch toward Oswall’s face…

Feb 5, 2013 4:43 PM CST