Daily Case Update Archive

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Aug. 6, 2008

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

TOPICS:
- Legal-malpractice
- Timely filed direct appeal / Sentencing
- Criminal law / Sentencing / Double Jeopardy
- writs of prohibition and mandamus to compel / Lack of Jurisdicion
- Savings statute
- Postconviction relief
- Child support / Modification or Termination
- DUI / Motion to suppress /  Probable Cause
- DUI / Evidence / Insufficient / Manifest weight
- Community Control violation / Anders v. California
- Criminal Rule 11 / Understanding nature of charge
- Plea acceptance / No-contest
- Domestic Law / Civil Protection order / Evidence - Hearsay
- Legal-malpractice / Statute of limitations
- Domestic Law / Spousal support / Child support / Shared-parenting plan
- Allied offenses of similar import
- Plea - knowingly / Ineffective counsel
 

Ohio Supreme Court

 

 Environmental Network Corp. v. Goodman Weiss Miller, L.L.P. (Slip Opinion)(August 6, 2008)(2008-Ohio-3833)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-3833.pdf
-  When a plaintiff premises a legal-malpractice claim on the theory that he would have received a better outcome if his attorney had tried the underlying matter to conclusion rather than settled it, the plaintiff must establish that he would have prevailed in the underlying matter and that the outcome would have been better than the outcome provided by the settlement.
 
State v. Silsby (Slip Opinion)(August 6, 2008)(2008-Ohio-3833)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-3833.pdf
-  Delayed criminal appeals * State v. Foster * A delayed appeal granted pursuant to App.R. 5(A) is substantively and procedurally the same as a timely filed direct appeal *Foster does not apply to a delayed appeal that had no motion pending when Foster was released.
 
State v. Roberts (Slip Opinion)(August 6, 2008)(2008-Ohio-3833)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-3833.pdf
-  Criminal law * Sentencing * Double Jeopardy * When a defendant’s sentence is stayed on appeal, but the defendant is released from prison under the assumption that the sentence has been served, the defendant has no expectation of finality in that sentence for purposes of the Double Jeopardy Clause * Judgment affirmed.
 
Toledo Bar Assn. v. Hickman (Slip Opinion)(August 6, 2008)(2008-Ohio-3833)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-3833.pdf
-  Attorneys at law * Misconduct* Neglect of an entrusted legal matter * Conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation * Failure to preserve the identity of funds and property of a client * Charging or collecting a clearly excessive fee * Failure to promptly pay or deliver funds to which a client is entitled * Permanent disbarment.
 
State ex rel. Plant v. Cosgrove (Slip Opinion)(August 6, 2008)(2008-Ohio-3833)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-3833.pdf
-  Mandamus and prohibition * Petition to compel trial court to vacate amended sentence entry * Trial court did not patently and unambiguously lack jurisdiction to amend entry * Adequate remedy exists by way of appeal * Writs denied.
 

First District Court of Appeals

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*** Judgment Entries ***
 
Sharon K. Schill vs. Marsha P. Ryan, Administrator, Ohio Bureau of Worker's Compensation, et al. (Aug. 6, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070881_08062008.pdf
-  Schill filed a workers’ compensation claim for an injury she allegedly sustained at her workplace, Busken Bakery. Schill voluntarily dismissed her case under Civ.R. 41(A). Schill refiled her petition. Busken moved for judgment on the pleadings, asserting that because Schill failed to file her petition within a year after voluntarily dismissing her claim, she had failed to commence the action within a year in violation of the savings statute. The supreme court has held that filing the petition commences the action. Because Schill failed to file her petition within the period allowed by the savings statute, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
 
State of Ohio vs. Barron Brown (Aug. 6, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070865_08062008.pdf
-  Brown appeals the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court’s judgment denying his petition for postconviction relief. He contends that the court “abuse[d] its discretion” when it denied his petition without “adher[ing] to the statutory construction of [R.C.] 2953.23.” Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
Angela Anne Noble vs. James Howard Noble (Aug. 6, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070791_08062008.pdf
-  James Noble appeals pro se a decision of the Hamilton County domestic relations court dismissing his motion to modify child support. This court has held that incarceration that causes an obligor to become unemployed or underemployed is not a change of circumstances justifying modification or termination of child support. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State of Ohio vs. Kevin M. Ayers (Aug. 6, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070748_08062008.pdf
-  Plaintiff-appellant, the state of Ohio, appeals the judgment of the Hamilton County Municipal Court granting a motion to suppress filed by defendant-appellee, Kevin M. Ayers, in a prosecution for driving under the influence of alcohol. Ayers was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol under R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)(a). He filed a motion to suppress evidence, arguing that Grein had not administered the field sobriety tests in conformance with the guidelines prescribed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) and that Grein had not possessed probable cause to arrest him. The trial court suppressed the test results and concluded that, absent those results, Grein had not possessed probable cause. The state now argues that the trial court erred in granting Ayers’s motion to suppress. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State of Ohio vs. Chad C. Smith (Aug. 6, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070725_08062008.pdf
-  Smith was involved in a single-car accident. Following the accident, Smith was arrested and cited for failure to control his vehicle, for driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol under R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)(a), and for driving a vehicle with a prohibited breath-alcohol content under R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)(h). Smith filed a motion to suppress, which the trial court denied. Following a bench trial, Smith was acquitted of driving with a prohibited breath-alcohol content under R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)(h). But he was found guilty of failure to control his vehicle and driving under the influence under R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)(a). He argues that the trial court erred in finding him guilty of driving under the influence under R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)(a) because his conviction was not supported by sufficient evidence and was against the weight of the evidence. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State of Ohio vs. Maurice Waver (Aug. 6, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070718_08062008.pdf
-  Waver appeals the trial court’s judgment revoking his community control and imposing a four-year prison term. Waver’s appointed appellate counsel, pursuant to Anders v. California,3 states in his brief that he has found no errors in the proceedings below, has moved to withdraw as counsel. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State of Ohio vs. Matthew Watkins (Aug. 6, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070703_08062008.pdf
-  Watkins pled guilty to complicity to commit aggravated burglary under R.C. 2923.03(A)(2). The trial court accepted and imposed a recommended agreed sentence of three years’ imprisonment. He argues trial court failed to comply with Crim.R. 11(C)(2)(a) at his plea hearing. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State of Ohio vs. Earl Wright (Aug. 6, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070675_08062008.pdf
-  Wright was indicted for passing bad checks, a fifth-degree felony. Wright pleaded guilty and a sentencing hearing was held. Wright attempted to plead no contest, but the trial court refused Wright’s no-contest plea, stating that a no-contest plea would not be accepted without a reason for that plea. Wright then pleaded guilty. Wright now contends that the trial court erred in refusing to accept his no-contest plea. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
Trinette Zawadzki vs. David Novak (Aug. 6, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070642_08062008.pdf
-  Novak and Zawadzki are the divorced parents of Kat. Zawadzki sought a civil protection order (“CPO”) against Novak, alleging domestic violence towards Kat. Zawadzki alleged that the domestic violence against Kat had occurred. The trial court granted the CPO. Novak now contends that Kat’s out-of-court statements to Zawadzki, Leonard, and Evelo about Novak’s sexual abuse were inadmissible hearsay, and that the court should have excluded them from evidence. We will not reverse the trial court’s decision to grant the CPO because it was supported by competent, credible evidence. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
John Carl Robbins vs. Timothy J. McKenna, et al. (Aug. 6, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070614_08062008.pdf
-  Robbins, appeals the judgment of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas dismissing his legal-malpractice action against defendants-appellees. Robbins filed a pro se complaint alleging that the appellees had failed to adequately represent him in a criminal prosecution that had commenced in 2005 and had terminated in an unsuccessful appeal of his conviction. Robbins now argues that the trial court erred in applying R.C. 2305.11(A) to his claims, but he does not dispute that he had filed his complaint after the expiration of the statutory period. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
Laura S. Randall vs. Kevin C. Randall (Aug. 6, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070376_08062008.pdf
-  Defendant-appellant Laura Randall’s marriage to plaintiff-appellee Kevin Randall ended with a decree of dissolution. The parties provided for shared parenting and incorporated in the decree a shared-parenting plan for their two daughters. Shortly after the decree of dissolution was finalized, both parties moved to modify the shared-parenting plan. The magistrate issued a decision terminating shared parenting, designating Laura as the residential parent and legal custodian, setting a visitation schedule for Kevin, setting a monthly child-support order, and modifying the expense-sharing provisions between the parties. Laura argues (1) that the trial court erred when it relied upon this court’s decision in Taylor to determine that it could not order an exchange of monthly child support without terminating or modifying spousal support, (2) that the trial court’s modification of the expense-sharing provisions was inconsistent with its prior reasoning that it could not award an exchange of child support absent a modification or termination of spousal support, and (3) that the trial court erred in terminating the shared-parenting plan. Having found merit in Laura’s first and second assignments of error, we reverse that part of the trial court’s holding that it was without authority to order an exchange of monthly child support and remand this case for further proceedings consistent with this judgment entry and the law. The balance of the judgment is affirmed.
 
State of Ohio vs. Barry Woods (Aug. 6, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070341_08062008.pdf
-  Pursuant to a guilty plea, the trial court convicted defendant-appellant Barry Woods of one count of trafficking in crack cocaine, one count of possession of crack cocaine, one count of possession of powder cocaine, and having a weapon while under a disability. Woods argues that he was improperly convicted of both trafficking in and possessing the same crack cocaine because, in this case, those two crimes were allied offenses of similar import. The judgment of the trial court is reversed in part with respect to the sentences imposed for the two offenses involving crack cocaine, and this case is remanded to the trial court for the imposition of only one sentence for one of those two offenses.
 
State of Ohio vs. Anthony Hayes (Aug. 6, 2008)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/docs/decisions/C-070063_08062008.pdf
-  Hayes was indicted on two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of robbery, four counts of kidnapping, and three counts of having a weapon under a disability, with accompanying gun specifications. Hayes pleaded guilty as he was charged in all counts and specifications. In exchange for Hayes’s guilty plea, he was sentenced to nine years’ incarceration. After sentencing, Hayes moved to withdraw his guilty plea, and the trial court denied his motion. Hayes argues that his guilty plea was not knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently made, and that his trial counsel was ineffective. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 

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

 

No Opinions.
 

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

 

No Opinions.