Daily Case Update Archive

As a service to our members, we monitor opinions issued from the Ohio Supreme Court, the Ohio State First District Court of Appeals, and the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.  You can read the latest summaries or archived summaries from 2005 , 2006 , 2007 , 2008 , 2009 , 2010 , 2011.

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May 21st, 2008

Ohio Supreme Court | Ohio First District | U.S. 6th Circuit - Ohio | U.S. 6th Circuit - Other States
 

TOPICS:
- Criminal law * Sentencing
- Public contracts * Bidding
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage
- Evidence / Sufficient / Theft offense
- Pleas agreements / Sentencing / Effective Counsel
- Anders v California
- Ex Post Facto and Due Process Clauses
- Federal Tort Claims Act / Statute of limitations
- Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
 

Ohio Supreme Court

 

State v. Hairston (Slip Opinion)(May 21, 2008)(2008-Ohio-2338)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-2338.pdf
-  Criminal law * Sentencing * Where none of the individual sentences imposed on an offender are grossly disproportionate to their respective offenses, an aggregate prison term resulting from consecutive imposition of those sentences does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. 
 
Cleveland Constr., Inc. v. Cincinnati (Slip Opinion)(May 21, 2008)(2008-Ohio-2337)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-2337.pdf
-  Public contracts * Bidding * Unsuccessful bidder has no constitutionally protected property interest in public contract * City properly exercises its discretion in not awarding contract to bidder who failed to comply with requirements of invitation to bid.
 
Rogers v. Dayton (Slip Opinion)(May 21, 2008)(2008-Ohio-2336)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-2336.pdf
-  Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage * Financial responsibility law * Political subdivisions * Relevance of certificate of self-insurance * Former R.C. 3937.18(K)(3) * Judgment reversed.
 

First District Court of Appeals

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*** Judgment Entries ***
 
State of Ohio vs. Kelly McGuire (May 21, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070262_05212008.pdf
-  McGuire was indicted on aggravated robbery with an accompanying firearm specification and robbery. He argues that his conviction was not supported by sufficient evidence and was against the manifest weight of the evidence, and that the trial court erred in failing to grant his motion for a judgment of acquittal under Crim.R. 29. He also argues that the trial court erred in failing to make a guilty finding on the lesser included-offense of theft. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State of Ohio vs. William Dunn (May 21, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070357_05212008.pdf
-  Dunn was indicted for possession of cocaine, trafficking in cocaine and conspiracy. The trial court sentenced Dunn to fourteen years in prison. Dunn argues that (1) “the trial court erred by denying [his] presentence motion to withdraw his guilty plea, (2) his “guilty plea[] w[as] not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily made, (3) the trial court erred by sentencing him to maximum, greater-than-minimum, and consecutive prison terms, and (4) he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State of Ohio vs. Alfonso Stevenson (May 21, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070507_05212008.pdf
-  Stevenson was convicted of one count of aggravated robbery with firearm specifications, and one count of robbery. In January 1998, Stevenson was sentenced to ten years in prison. The sentence, however, did not contain a post-release-control sanction imposed either orally or in the court’s journalized judgment. The trial court subsequently ordered that Stevenson, who was still serving his prison sentence, be returned to the trial court for resentencing. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
Tameca Eppes vs. Eric Taylor (May 21, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070508_05212008.pdf
-  Taylor and Eppes have a minor child. Taylor did not keep current with his child-support obligations. He argues that the child-support order was not supported by any evidence. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State of Ohio vs. Chris Redd (May 21, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070558_05212008.pdf
-  Redd pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery with a firearm specification and robbery with two firearm specifications. Redd was sentenced to ten years in prison. The sentence, however, did not contain a post-release-control sanction imposed in the court’s journalized judgment. After a hearing, the trial court sentenced Redd to the same ten-year prison term that it had originally imposed, as well as to a five-year term of post-release control. Redd's counsel found no errors in the proceedings below, and she has filed a motion to withdraw as counsel. Judgment AFFIRMED and motion overruled.
 
State of Ohio vs. Abdoulaye Konate (May 21, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070569_05212008.pdf
-  Konate was charged with 18 counts of identity fraud, ten counts of misuse of credit cards, and a single count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. The trial court sentenced Konate to ten years’ incarceration. He argues that the sentence was contrary to law and that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to it. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State of Ohio vs. Kenneth Eads (May 21, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070595_05212008.pdf
-  Eads pled guilty to violating a protection order and to possession of cocaine. The trial court placed Eads on community control for two years and ordered him to successfully complete the River City treatment program. A community-control violation was filed against Eads alleging that he had failed to complete the River City treatment program. He argues that the trial court abused its discretion by imposing an excessive sentence. Eads asserts that “[t]he Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution forbid the imposition of a maximum consecutive sentence unless the fact required for the enhancement has been admitted by the defendant or found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.” Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State of Ohio vs. Eric Morris (May 21, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070610_05212008.pdf
-  Morris was found guilty of domestic violence, criminal damaging, and violating a protection order. On appeal, Morris claims that the protection order that had been issued in Campbell County, Kentucky, complied neither with R.C. 2919(C) nor with R.C. 2919(D), and that his convictions for domestic violence and criminal damaging were against the weight and sufficiency of the evidence. Morris claims that the certified copy of the Kentucky-issued protection order (“TPO”) was inadmissible because it had not been authenticated. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State of Ohio vs. Donte L. Hobbs (May 21, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070657_05212008.pdf
-  Hobbs was found guilty of seven counts of aggravated robbery with accompanying specifications. Hobbs was originally sentenced to a term of 24 years’ incarceration, but he appealed, and we reversed and remanded for resentencing under State v. Foster. On remand, the trial court held a new sentencing hearing and sentenced Hobbs to an identical term of 24 years’ incarceration. Hobbs now appeals his post-Foster sentence, arguing that the sentence violated his rights under the Ex Post Facto and Due Process Clauses of the United States and Ohio Constitutions. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 

U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals:  Ohio Cases

 

Myers v. USA (May 21, 2008)(Appeal from N.D. OH)
-  http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/08a0189p-06.pdf
-  Plaintiffs James Myers and Ellen Eckert filed the present case under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging negligence on the part of a federal postal employee whose mail truck struck the car driven by Myers and in which Eckert was a passenger. The United States filed a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1) and (6), arguing that the action was barred by the statute of limitations. The district court found for the government and dismissed the case. Myers and Eckert timely appealed. For the following reasons we AFFIRM the district court’s dismissal of plaintiffs’ claims.
 

U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals: Other States Cases

 

Kolpacke v. CSX Pension Plan (May 21, 2008)(Appeal from E.D. MI)
-  http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/08a0190p-06.pdf
-  Plaintiff-Appellant Gerald F. Kolpacke appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants on his claim of wrongful denial of benefits in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 29 U.S.C. § 1132 et seq. Kolpacke alleges that defendants arbitrarily and capriciously denied his claimed benefits by misapplying the relevant pension plan. The district court granted summary judgment in defendants’ favor because Kolpacke had failed to show that defendants’ had arbitrarily and capriciously applied the terms of the pension plan in calculating Kolpacke’s estimated benefits. We have carefully read the parties’ briefs, the applicable law, and the district court’s order granting summary judgment to defendants and its order denying plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration, and we agree no genuine issues of material fact exist and defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law on Kolpacke’s claim. Because the district court’s decisions are well-reasoned, we see no reason to embellish upon its opinions. Therefore, we AFFIRM the district court’s grant of summary judgment to defendants on Kolpacke’s ERISA claim for the reasons stated in the district court’s orders.