Ohio

Inmates’ Last Words May Be Edited Under New Ohio Prison Rule

Ohio prison officials say they had no objection to a death-row inmate’s 17-minute prayer before his execution, but they did see the potential for future problems. Now they have a solution: A new prison rule allows the warden to place reasonable restrictions on final statements and to cut off statements…

Nov 19, 2010 5:26 PM CST

Lawyer Arrested at Office in Federal Child Porn Sting Gets 24 Months

Arrested last year at his law office in a federal child porn sting, a Dayton, Ohio, attorney who allegedly transmitted sexually explicit material from his office and home computers over the Internet to two undercover law enforcement officers posing as minors has pleaded guilty and was sentenced today to 24…

Nov 5, 2010 4:21 PM CDT

Ohio Jail Wrongfully Uses Stun Gun on Naked, Disabled and Pregnant Inmates, DOJ Says in Filing

The U.S. Department of Justice has weighed in on an ongoing federal civil rights suit in Ohio, asking to join in a complaint brought by a state agency over stun gun use by jail personnel in Franklin County. Guards unconstitutionally are shocking inmates to “soften up” those who pose no…

Nov 4, 2010 11:24 PM CDT

Cleveland Solo Takes His Civ Pro Case Before the Justices

Cleveland lawyer David Eduard Mills was warned that he probably wouldn’t get very far into his oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court before receiving a question from the bench. On Monday, it was a matter of eight seconds. “I’m sorry to interrupt so quickly,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts…

Nov 1, 2010 10:36 PM CDT

The Long Shot

A Cleveland solo’s life is about to change as his practice expands from a spare bedroom in his apartment to the U.S. Supreme Court

Nov 1, 2010 9:59 AM CDT

Death Penalty Conviction Axed, New Trial Ordered Due to Judge’s Bias Against Defense Counsel

In what the Ohio Supreme Court describes in a slip opinion (PDF) today as a “highly extraordinary” case, it has vacated a death penalty conviction and ordered a new murder trial because of the trial judge’s bias against defense counsel. As Judge Douglas Rastatter of the Clark County Court of…

Oct 26, 2010 9:22 PM CDT

Court Allows Pregnant 17-Year-Old to Marry; Mom Says Judge ‘Stole My Daughter’

An Ohio judge has allowed a pregnant 17-year-old girl to marry against the wishes of her parents because the youth said she feared they would force her to have an abortion. Judge Alan Acker of Franklin County probate court waived the state requirements for counseling and parental consent and allowed…

Oct 25, 2010 12:45 PM CDT

Juror’s Revelation that She Was 911 Caller Stuns Ohio Courtroom, Forces Mistrial

A mistrial was declared on Tuesday after an Ohio juror hearing a domestic violence case stunned the courtroom with her revelation that she was the anonymous 911 caller who reported the crime. Najah Johnson-Riddle stopped the trial during opening statements, telling the courtroom she couldn’t sit on the jury because…

Oct 20, 2010 4:36 PM CDT

Dozens Arrested in $100M Medicare Case Bust; Doctor & Patient IDs Allegedly Stolen

Developing: Perhaps 100 people have been arrested in California, Georgia, Ohio, New Mexico and New York, in a record-breaking Medicare fraud case that allegedly involved $100 million in bogus billings and the use of stolen doctor and patient identities. Some 40 individuals were arrested in New York alone and an…

Oct 13, 2010 6:42 PM CDT

Ohio School Plagued by Suicides Faces Two Lawsuits Over Bullying Response

A suburban Ohio school district that lost three high school youths to suicides and a fourth to an antidepressant overdose is facing lawsuits from two of the families who say the school failed to prevent the bullying that contributed to their deaths. A lawyer for the grieving families, Ken Myers,…

Oct 12, 2010 3:11 PM CDT

Prosecutors Claim Lawyer Had Suffered Months of Abuse Before Her Slaying

Prosecutors contend an Ohio man killed his live-in girlfriend, a Cincinnati criminal defense lawyer, after she suffered months of physical abuse at the hands of the defendant. Prosecutors laid out their case on Tuesday against Calvin McKelton, who is being tried on charges that he murdered Fairfield, Ohio, lawyer Margaret…

Oct 6, 2010 3:22 PM CDT

Jurors Names Kept Secret from Lawyers in Trial Over Murder of Criminal Defense Attorney

Jury selection began this morning, under extraordinary security measures, for the trial of a man accused of killing an Ohio criminal defense attorney who was his live-in girlfriend and, subsequently, an alleged witness to that crime. Even defense lawyers aren’t being told the names of jurors who are to hear…

Oct 4, 2010 5:52 PM CDT

Lawyer Calls Expert Toxicologist’s Bachelor’s Degree Into Question

The academic background of a James L. Ferguson, an Ohio toxicologist who testified in many criminal trials, is being questioned by a criminal defense lawyer who wonders if the former Franklin County coroner’s office employee even has a bachelor’s degree. Kort Gatterdam of Columbus, Ohio, represents Virginia LeFever, a woman…

Oct 1, 2010 5:56 PM CDT

Ohio Official Asks Federal Prosecutor to Review Chase Mortgage Foreclosures

Upping the ante in a mortgage foreclosure mess that already reportedly has prompted the attorney general’s office in six or more states to initiate probes of various lenders, an Ohio official has asked a federal prosecutor to take a look at Chase Home Mortgage and a company that was created…

Oct 1, 2010 3:33 PM CDT

Two Ohio Public Safety Lawyers Ousted Over Allegations of E-Mail Snooping

Two lawyers in the Ohio Department of Public Safety are jobless after the agency’s director accused them of routinely intercepting possibly confidential employee e-mails. Former top public safety lawyer Joshua Engel is accused of intercepting e-mails sent to the state inspector general and to the Columbus Dispatch newspaper, the Columbus…

Sep 30, 2010 2:07 PM CDT