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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Dec. 8th & 9th, 2008

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

TOPICS:
- Allied offenses of similar import
- Criminal law / Sexual-predator specification
- Public records / deleted emails
- Public Employees Retirement Service / Claim for credit
- Writ of habeas corpus / Ineffective Counsel
 

Ohio Supreme Court

 

State v. Johnson (Slip Opinion)(12/9/08)(2008-Ohio-6247)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-6247.pdf
-  Court of appeals’ judgment reversed in part on the authority of State v. Brown and cause remanded.
 
State v. Pierce (Slip Opinion)(12/9/08)(2008-Ohio-6248)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-6248.pdf
-  Court of appeals’ judgment affirmed on the authority of State v. Ferguson.
 
State v. Cotton (Slip Opinion)(12/9/08)(2008-Ohio-6249)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-6249.pdf
-  Court of appeals’ judgment reversed in part on the authority of State v. Brown and cause remanded.
 
State v. Person (Slip Opinion)(12/9/08)(2008-Ohio-6250)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-6250.pdf
-  Court of appeals’ judgment affirmed on the authority of State v. Brown.
 
State v. Palmer (Slip Opinion)(12/9/08)(2008-Ohio-6251)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-6251.pdf
-  Court of appeals’ judgment reversed in part on the authority of State v. Brown and cause remanded.
 
State v. McCown (Slip Opinion)(12/9/08)(2008-Ohio-6252)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-6252.pdf
-  Court of appeals’ judgment affirmed on the authority of State v. Ferguson.
 
State ex rel. Toledo Blade Co. v. Seneca Cty. Bd. of Commrs. (Slip Opinion)(12/9/08)(2008-Ohio-6253)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-6253.pdf
-  Public records * Mandamus to compel recovery of the content of e-mails that had been deleted by county commissioners granted * Mandamus to compel board of county commissioners to promptly comply with future public-records requests denied.
 
State ex rel. Davis v. Pub. Emps. Retirement Bd. (Slip Opinion)(12/9/08)(2008-Ohio-6254)
-  http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-ohio-6254.pdf
-  Mandamus * Writ sought to compel Public Employees Retirement Board to vacate an order denying claims for credit from the Public Employees Retirement Service and to adjudicate the merits of the claims * Abuse of discretion * Collateral estoppel * Court of appeals’ grant of limited writ affirmed.
 

First District Court of Appeals

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No Opinions.
        

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

 

No Opinions.
      

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

 

Owens v. Guida (Dec. 9, 2008)(Appeal from W.D. TN)
-  http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/08a0440p-06.pdf
-  Gaile K. Owens (“Owens”) is on Tennessee’s death row because she hired Sidney Porterfield to kill her husband and Porterfield successfully carried out his assignment. Owens appeals the district court’s dismissal of her petition for a writ of habeas corpus. She argues that: 1) she received ineffective assistance of counsel (“IAC”) when trial counsel failed to adequately investigate her background and failed to overcome the state’s hearsay objection to one of her penalty-phase witnesses; 2) the state violated Brady v. Maryland by failing to turn over letters between her deceased husband and his paramour; and 3) the trial court unconstitutionally prevented her from offering, as mitigating evidence, testimony that she wanted to plead guilty in return for receiving a life sentence. We reject the first argument and hold that the Tennessee courts reasonably applied Strickland v. Washington by concluding that Owens sabotaged her own defense and that counsel’s performance is not deficient when counsel follows a client’s instructions. Likewise, we reject her second argument and hold that the Tennessee courts reasonably applied Brady because even if the letters were favorable evidence, and were suppressed by the state, Owens was not prejudiced because she could have presented other evidence of the affair but chose not to do so. Finally, we reject her third argument and hold that the Tennessee courts reasonably applied Lockett v. Ohio in refusing to admit Owens’s evidence because no court, let alone the Supreme Court, has held that failed plea negotiations may be admitted at a penalty-phase hearing. Therefore, we affirm.