652 results for 'court:"Ohio Court Of Appeals"'.
J. Boyle finds the lower court properly granted permanent custody of the child to family services. Not only is his sibling already in foster care for similar drug exposure issues caused by the mother, but the father is incarcerated and will remain so until at least 2026, which prevents the child from being placed in his care in a reasonable amount of time. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Boyle, Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-588, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
[Consolidated.] J. Winkler finds the lower court properly held jurisdiction over the custody case. Although the children currently reside in New York, they were living in Ohio at the time the alleged abuse and neglect occurred. Meanwhile, the finding by the lower court that the children were abused was supported by overwhelming evidence, including the opinion of three doctors that the deceased child died of homicide and testimony the children were all malnourished and punished in excessive and cruel ways. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Winkler, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-538, Categories: Evidence, Family Law, Jurisdiction
J. Smith finds that although the majority of the prosecution's case rested on circumstantial evidence, there was more than enough to convict defendant of murder, including his DNA found on a hat near the victim, as well as a witness who testified defendant came to his home the day of the murder with blood on his clothing asking to wash his hands. Meanwhile, the failure by defendant's attorney to object to various witness statements that lent credibility to the prosecution's case did not rise to the level of ineffective assistance and was part of a sound trial strategy to avoid drawing attention to such evidence. Furthermore, his mention of possible drug use by defendant during closing arguments was also acceptable, as that information had already been brought up during trial. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-549, Categories: Evidence, Ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. Stevenson finds that the sharing of office space by defendant’s attorney and the attorney of one of his codefendants during their trial on murder charges, absent any other allegations, does not constitute a conflict of interest requiring a new trial. Meanwhile, the imposition of consecutive sentences for firearm specifications was not improper and was mandated by Ohio Supreme Court precedent, given that defendant was convicted of both aggravated murder and aggravated robbery. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Stevenson, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-543, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Murder, Sentencing
J. Gwin finds the lower court properly denied the inmate's motion for postconviction relief related to the trial court's denial of his motion to change his plea. His claim of a mental breakdown is insufficient to prove his guilty plea was not made knowingly or voluntarily, especially considering there is no evidence of coercion, and he made both oral and written waivers of his various rights when he pleaded guilty. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gwin, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-535, Categories: Sex Offender, Plea
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J. Delaney finds the trial court erroneously dismissed the homeowner's consumer sales claim against the restoration company. The one-year statute of limitations contained in the company's terms and services agreement does not apply to such claims, which are subject to a two-year statute of limitations under Ohio law. However, even though the physical contract between the parties was not available at the time the homeowner digitally signed it, he was provided complete documentation at the conclusion of the remediation project and, therefore, the one-year statute of limitations is applicable to his contract and negligence claims, which were properly dismissed. Reversed in part.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Delaney, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-531, Categories: Civil Procedure, Consumer Law, Contract
J. Hess finds that the trial court should have suppressed evidence during defendant's drug case. While the police officer had probable cause to initiate an investigative stop of defendant, he did not have reasonable suspicion to search his vehicle. He did not see defendant purchase any drugs and there were no odors or evidence of drugs in the vehicle. Although defendant eventually gave consent to search after an initial refusal, this consent was based on the officer's statement that he "had reasonable suspicion" and would "search it anyway," which rendered the consent invalid. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hess, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-624, Categories: Drug Offender, Search
J. Waldick finds the lower court properly granted permanent custody of the child to family services. The parents were clearly unable to provide proper care for their son, who was diagnosed with a serious lung disease at birth because of the mother's drug use, as evidenced by the child's oxygen monitor alarming several times during supervised visits. Additionally, each parent failed to complete significant portions of their case plans, the father had never been alone with the child and continued to struggle with anger and abusive language, and the child thrived with his foster family, which renders the court's decision in his best interests. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Waldick, Filed On: February 12, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-517, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
J. Trapp finds defendant's fair trial rights were not violated when the trial court denied his motion for a mistrial after two jurors discussed the case during a bathroom break. The snippets of conversation heard by a court employee did not involve any specific facts of the case and, following an instruction from the court, no further instances of misconduct occurred. Meanwhile, the evidence was sufficient to convict defendant of aggravated burglary despite his claims he was invited into the victim's home. That testimony was directly contradicted by the victim, and as this court must view such conflicts in favor of the prosecution, his convictions will be upheld. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Trapp, Filed On: February 12, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-512, Categories: Burglary, Evidence, Jury
J. Eklund finds the lower court properly granted the husband's motion to find the wife in contempt. Her failure to timely enroll the child into a treatment program for various mental health issues was a direct violation of the parties' shared parenting agreement and she provided no evidence to the court as to why a delay was necessary. However, even though the mother testified the child was drunk when she picked her up from a social gathering, the lower court erroneously found she allowed the child to engage in underage drinking. There was no evidence to indicate the child drank any alcohol with the mother. Affirmed in part.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Eklund, Filed On: February 12, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-513, Categories: Contempt, Evidence, Family Law
J. Patton finds defendant was not denied the right to counsel when the assistant prosecutor berated his attorney on several occasions. Although the behavior was unprofessional and briefly interrupted the trial, the trial court admonished the prosecutor in chambers and issued an instruction to the jury, which prevented any structural error. Meanwhile, although the trial court should have included language about defendant's duty to retreat in its jury instruction on self-defense, evidence in the case indicated he was not lawfully at the home of the victim and initiated the dispute that led to the shooting, and so any additional language would not have changed the outcome of the trial. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Patton, Filed On: February 12, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-505, Categories: Prosecutorial Misconduct, Assault, Jury Instructions
J. Welbaum finds that although no one, including the victim, witnessed defendant remove the victim's breast from her jacket and grope her while she slept, his conviction for gross sexual imposition was supported by sufficient, circumstantial evidence, including the victim's testimony she woke up several times after feeling someone grope her and eventually woke up to defendant having vaginal intercourse with her. Meanwhile, the trial court was not required to give a curative instruction to the jury following an emotional outburst by the victim after defendant's mother made faces and reacted inappropriately to her testimony at trial. The statements made by the victim were consistent with her testimony and did not affect the outcome of the trial. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Welbaum, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-481, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, Jury Instructions
J. Lewis finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress search evidence obtained from a home owned by his father during his trial on drug and weapons charges. The warrant obtained by police was supported by probable cause, including testimony from a confidential informant who observed a large quantity of cocaine inside the residence and the fact that garbage was not routinely taken to the curb for collection despite a significant amount of foot traffic at the property. Meanwhile, defendant's drug and weapons convictions were supported by sufficient evidence, including that he was the primary individual seen going to the home over the course of a two-year investigation, had bills delivered to his name at the address, and was found within arm's reach of a weapon when police executed the search warrant. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lewis, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-484, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Search
J. Abele finds the lower court properly granted the neighbors' motion for summary judgment in a property dispute. The language in the easement shared with the property owner is unambiguous and allows only for an initial 30-foot wide strip of land to be used for access to a county road, not a 30-foot strip along the entire boundary of the neighbors' land. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Abele, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-521, Categories: Evidence, Property, Real Estate
J. Abele finds the trial court properly granted defendant's motion to suppress statements made to police after her arrest. Although her unprompted statement, "I fucked up," may have been incriminating, it did not prevent the application of Miranda considering the officers who interviewed her proceeded to ask specific questions about the burglary for which she was eventually charged. Additionally, although there was a gap between the pre- and post-Miranda sections of the interview, the similar lines of questioning and short duration of the gap rendered the questioning a single interview and allowed the trial court to suppress it in its entirety. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Abele, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-547, Categories: Burglary, Evidence, Miranda
[Consolidated.] J. Blunt finds the lower court properly terminated the mother's parental rights and granted permanent custody of the children to family services. The mother failed to comply with several portions of her case plan and was incarcerated for a period of the custody case, while the maternal grandfather was not a suitable option for custody because several of the children feared or disliked him. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Blunt, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-446, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
J. Ryan finds the trial court properly granted permanent custody of the twins to family services. Both the mother and father failed to complete parenting and substance abuse classes that were part of their case plans, while the children were thriving with their foster family. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Ryan, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-453, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
J. Gallagher finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to separate his assault and murder charges into two trials. The evidence for each of the sets of charges was simple and direct, while the crimes also occurred on separate dates at separate locations, which prevented any chance of confusion by the jury. However, the trial court erroneously failed to consider defendant's age of 17 at the time he committed the offenses, and so defendant's sentence of life in prison with parole eligibility after 63 years will be vacated and the case remanded for resentencing. Affirmed in part.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-467, Categories: Juvenile Law, Murder, Sentencing
J. Sheehan finds the trial court erroneously instructed the jury during defendant's trial on rape and gross sexual imposition charges that the element of force could be proven by evidence the victim's "will was overcome by fear or duress alone." Although defendant was the victim's stepfather, she was 18 at the time of the sexual assault and was not, by definition, a child. The victim admitted during her testimony that defendant did not force her to do anything when he assaulted her in the shower, and although there is other evidence in the record that could satisfy the heightened force standard - including that the victim urinated on herself when defendant initially touched her - the jury instruction deprived defendant of a fair trial and his convictions must be vacated. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Sheehan, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-471, Categories: Fair Trial, Sex Offender, Jury Instructions
J. Forbes finds the trial court improperly denied defendant's motion for a new murder trial based on his brother's confession. Although the first confession submitted by his brother was not properly notarized and lacked credibility, subsequent confessions were not tainted by the initial filing and qualified as newly discovered evidence. When combined with the lack of physical evidence used to convict defendant - including the absence of gunpowder residue within eight minutes of the shooting - and the intoxicated nature of the victim at the time he made his identification, the confession renders defendant's convictions against the weight of the evidence and requires his convictions be vacated. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Forbes, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-469, Categories: Evidence, Murder
J. Gwin finds testimony from codefendants established defendant was aware it was the intention of the three men to kill the victim for his suspected theft of their personal belongings, and that even if he had left the scene of the crime before the victim died, his beating of the victim with both his fists and a brick was sufficient to convict him of murder. Although defendant's attorney failed to cross-examine his accomplices about inconsistencies in their versions of the crime, his conduct did not rise to the level of ineffective assistance because the court gave a comprehensive instruction to the jury that all the accomplice testimony should be viewed with grave suspicion. Affirmed
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gwin, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-429, Categories: Evidence, Ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. Lynch finds the lower court properly granted the city's motion for summary judgment because the widening of an intersection was a valid exercise of the town's governmental power that prevents the power company from seeking any reimbursement for expenses related to its moving of various power lines and other equipment. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lynch, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-399, Categories: Government, Property
J. Hendrickson finds the trial court properly imposed consecutive sentences after defendant pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual battery. The seriousness of his conduct, which included blackmail and threats against the minor victim if she refused to have sex, supported the increased punishment. Although defendant suffers from PTSD as a result of military service and expressed sincere remorse before he was sentenced, the trial court was not required to reduce the sentence and spoke on the record that it considered all required factors before it handed down consecutive sentences. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hendrickson, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-381, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Piper finds the admission of a detective's testimony about the silence of defendant's brother during a police interview did not violate defendant's fair trial rights. Although it attacked defendant's credibility, he had already changed his story several times and admitted to the jury he lied to police; therefore, the testimony did not act as a "credibility tiebreaker." Meanwhile, the prosecution's question to defendant about his decision to remain silent after his arrest did not constitute prosecutorial misconduct because it was part of a valid cross-examination and was used to impeach defendant about his previous version of events. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Piper, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-382, Categories: Fair Trial, Murder, Prosecutorial Misconduct
J. Miller finds that defendant's drug trafficking and possession convictions were not against the weight of the evidence. Even though his accomplice was the one initially arrested in possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl, the car in which he was arrested was registered to defendant and the accomplice admitted to police he was completing drug runs at the behest of defendant. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Miller, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-394, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Accomplice Liability
[Consolidated.] J. Waldick finds the trial court's participation in plea negotiations did not render defendant's pleas involuntary. Ohio law allows for some judiciary participation at the state court level. Furthermore, there is no evidence of coercion on the part of the court, which made sure defendant was satisfied with both negotiations and the final plea deals before they were accepted. Affirmed in part.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Waldick, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-392, Categories: Judiciary, Plea
J. Welbaum finds the trial court properly dismissed the fire captain's employment case against the city for a failure to prosecute because the nearly 5-year delay between the initial filing and dismissal clearly indicated a lack of compliance with the court's schedule and a complete disregard for procedural standards. Although the captain's attorney cited ongoing medical issues as the root cause of various delays, it was the client's responsibility to obtain new counsel if his current attorney could not adequately represent him, while the court also encouraged the attorney to hire co-counsel - advice that was not followed. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Welbaum, Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-365, Categories: Civil Procedure, Employment Retaliation
J. Wilkin finds the estate's failure to file an affidavit of prejudice with the Ohio Supreme Court to seek recusal of the trial court judge - the only avenue for such relief - prevents this court from reviewing its claim of bias, which must be dismissed. Meanwhile, the lower court properly dismissed the estate's claims against family services and its employees because allegations of an insufficient investigation into the decedent's death are not supported by any tort law or cause of action in the State of Ohio. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wilkin, Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-437, Categories: Judiciary, Emotional Distress, Wrongful Death
J. Welbaum finds the trial court properly allowed statements made by defendant during a police interrogation to be admitted into evidence during his trial on unlawful sexual conduct arising from defendant having a 13-year-old perform fellatio on him in exchange for a vape pen. The statements were not the result of coercive tactics and defendant was read his Miranda rights at the outset of the interview and affirmed on several occasions he understood the rights and agreed to waive them. Meanwhile, Google records that used GPS to show defendant's location were also properly admitted into evidence because the records were self-authenticated via a certificate provided by Google. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Welbaum, Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-361, Categories: Miranda, Sex Offender, Child Victims