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June 14, 2006

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

TOPICS:
- Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act
- Attorney Misconduct
- Personal property taxation
- Restitution - offender paying insurance company
- Sexual predator
- Sentencing
- Frivolous Appeal
- Postconviction relief
- Underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage
- Immigration and Naturalization Service instituted deportation proceedings
- Accounting and fraud
 

Ohio Supreme Court

 

Marrone v. Philip Morris, USA, Inc. (June 14, 2006) (2006-Ohio-2869)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/0/2006/2006-ohio-2869.pdf
-  A consumer may qualify for class-action certification under Ohio's Consumer Sales Practices Act only if the defendant's alleged violation of the Act is substantially similar to an act or practice previously declared to be deceptive by one of the methods identified in O.R.C. 1345.09(B).
 
Cuyahoga Cty. Bar Assn. v. Scott-Chestang (June 14, 2006) (2006-Ohio-2711)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/0/2006/2006-ohio-2711.pdf
-  Attorneys at law * Misconduct * Indefinite suspension * Neglecting entrusted legal matters * Engaging in conduct involving fraud, deceit, dishonesty, or misrepresentation * Intentionally prejudicing or damaging a client * Failing to promptly deliver funds to which a client is entitled.
 
Disciplinary Counsel v. White (June 14, 2006) (2006-Ohio-2709)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/0/2006/2006-ohio-2709.pdf
-  Attorneys at law * Misconduct * Conduct involving moral turpitude * Conduct adversely reflecting on fitness to practice law * Conviction on felony drug offense * Disbarment.
 
Andrew Jergens Co. v. Wilkins (June 14, 2006) (2006-Ohio-2708)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/0/2006/2006-ohio-2708.pdf
-  Personal property taxation * Off-the-shelf computer software taxable as tangible personal property used in business.
 
State v. Kreischer (June 14, 2006) (2006-Ohio-2706)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/0/2006/2006-ohio-2706.pdf
-  Former O.R.C. 2929.18(A)(1) * Under former O.R.C. 2929.18(A)(1), a court may order an offender to pay restitution to an insurance company that incurred medical costs on behalf of the victim.
 

First District Court of Appeals

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State v. Spaulding (June 14, 2006)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/Decisions/C-050084.pdf
-  Spaulding pleaded guilty to rape and aggravated burglary. He was sentenced as appears of record. Following a hearing, the trial court found Spaulding to be a sexual predator. Spaulding has appealed his sexual-predator designation. Spaulding's assignments of error allege that the trial court's determination that he is a sexual predator was based upon insufficient evidence and was against the manifest weight of the evidence. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State v. Evans (June 14, 2006)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/Decisions/C-050190.pdf
-  Nevins pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery, with a three-year firearm specification, and to robbery, with a three-year firearm specification. The trial court sentenced Nevins to five years' incarceration on each count, and then stated, in its sentencing entry, that "count two merges into count one for the purpose of sentence." The trial court also sentenced Nevins to a mandatory term of three years' incarceration on each of the firearm specifications, and merged the specifications for purposes of sentencing. Nevins's aggregate sentence was eight years' incarceration. He has appealed. Nevins alleges that the trial court erred in sentencing Nevins to more than the minimum term for each offense because he had not previously served a prison term. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed in part and reversed in part, the sentences are vacated, and the cause is remanded for resentencing and for further proceedings consistent with law and this judgment entry.
 
State v. Jennings (June 14, 2006)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/Decisions/C-050267.pdf
-  Jennings was indicted for possession of cocaine, with a major-drug-offender specification, trafficking in cocaine, with a major-drug-offender specification, conspiracy, and having a weapon while under a disability. Pursuant to a plea bargain, Jennings pleaded guilty to trafficking in cocaine and having a weapon while under a disability. All other counts and all specifications were dismissed. The trial court imposed an agreed sentence of thirty months' incarceration. Jennings has appealed.  Counsel now ask the court to conduct an independent review of the record.  We affirm the trial court's judgment, and we overrule counsel's motion to withdraw.
 
State v. Gaines (June 14, 2006)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/Decisions/C-050409.pdf
-  The appellant was convicted of murder in connection with the shooting death of Eugene Bradshaw. In his first postconviction claim, he asserted that he was innocent, and he offered in support of his claim the exonerating affidavits of his co-indictee, Lonnel Dickey, and his friend Shawn Hawkins. In his second postconviction claim, the appellant asserted that he was denied the effective assistance of trial counsel, because counsel (1) failed to discover or to present at trial the affiants' exculpatory testimony, and (2) failed to seek the exclusion from evidence of items of the appellant's clothing that bore gunshot residue. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
Westfield Insurance Co. v. Bass (June 14, 2006)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/Decisions/C-050479.pdf
-  Bass was injured in an automobile accident while driving to work. She sought underinsured/uninsured motorist ("UIM") coverage under two insurance policies issued to her employer by plaintiff-appellee Westfield Insurance Company and under a personal-liability umbrella policy issued to her parents by third-party defendant-appellee State Farm Fire & Casualty Company. Her claims were denied. Bass was occupying her personal automobile when she was injured. Because she was driving to work, she argues that her automobile was a "hired auto." Bass cites no authority for this proposition, and we find no merit in this argument. Because Bass was driving her personal automobile when she was injured, we hold that she was not "occupying" a covered automobile for purposes of UIM coverage and thus was not an insured under the CIC policy. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State v. Garrett (June 14, 2006)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/Decisions/C-050482.pdf
-  Garrett was found guilty by a jury of two counts of possession of cocaine, one count of trafficking in cocaine within 1000 feet of a school, and one count of possession of heroin. Garrett appeals, alleging that the trial court erred in overruling his Crim.R. 29 motion for acquittal, that his convictions were against the manifest weight of the evidence and he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State v. Jackson (June 14, 2006)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/Decisions/C-050519.pdf
-  Jackson was convicted of three counts of trafficking in cocaine under R.C. 2925.03(A), two counts of possession of cocaine under R.C. 2925.11(A), and one count of conspiracy to commit a felony drug-trafficking offense under R.C. 2923.01(A)(2). He now appeals those convictions and the sentences imposed. We affirm the findings of guilt, but vacate the sentences.
 
State v. Ammar (June 14, 2006)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/Decisions/C-050554.pdf
-  Ammar appeals from the trial court's denial of his motion under O.R.C. 2943.031(D) to set aside his guilty pleas on the grounds that the trial court did not advise him of the immigration-related consequences of his pleas. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
Kenney, et al. v. The Fifth Third Bank (June 14, 2006)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/Decisions/C-050600.pdf
-  Garrett and Jennifer Kenney appeal the trial court's grant of summary judgment to defendant-appellee The Fifth Third Bank in an action for an accounting and fraud. Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
Gueye v. Mike Kaeser Towing (June 14, 2006)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/Decisions/C-050694.pdf
-  It was not disputed at trial that Kaeser towed Gueye's car from a snowbank on December 23, 2004. What was disputed was whether Kaeser damaged Gueye's car in the process. According to Gueye, his car did not operate properly after Kaeser towed it. Based on this evidence, a magistrate found in favor of Kaeser on the grounds that there was a lack of proximate cause between the towing of Gueye's car in December 2004 and the necessary or requested repairs to the car listed on the May 2005 estimate. The trial court affirmed and adopted the magistrate's decision. Gueye appeals from the trial court's judgment overruling Gueye's objections to a magistrate's decision in favor of Mike Kaeser Towing.  Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State v. Wackenthaler (June 14, 2006)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/Decisions/C-050767.pdf
-  Wackenthaler presents on appeal a single assignment of error, in which he contends that the common pleas court erred when it denied his "Motion to Reduce or Modify Existing Sentence." Judgment AFFIRMED.
 
State v. Featherkile (June 14, 2006)
-  http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/Decisions/C-050827.pdf
-  Featherkile appeals the judgment of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas sentencing him to consecutive terms of imprisonment for four counts of gross sexual imposition. In light of Foster, the sentences are hereby vacated, and the cause is remanded for resentencing. In all other respects, the trial court's judgment is affirmed.
 

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

 

No Opinion.
 

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

 

No Opinion.
 

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