Gee, thanks, guys.  Back in August, I mentioned State v. Lupardus in a post about upcoming oral arguments before the Ohio Supreme Court.  When that notable event took place less than a month ago, I devoted an entire post to it.  So this past Thursday the court decides that it never should have taken the case in the first place, and dismisses it as improvidently granted.

Not much else of significance out of Columbus, and of course no decisions in the new term of the US Supreme Court.  SCOTUSblog, however, informs us of a new Supreme Court database, which you can find here, and which will allow you to answer questions like, “In how many criminal law cases did Justice Brennan and Chief Justice Burger vote the same way?”  Certainly not as fascinating a question as how many intentional walks Roger Maris received the year he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record (see below), but there you go.

On to the courts of appeals, who don’t have the option of deciding that they don’t want to hear a case…

Criminal.  2nd District holds that nurse who stole drugs from hospital did not hold a “position of trust” barring her from seeking treatment in lieu of conviction; issue is pending before Supreme Court… 6th District rejects Oregon v. Ice challenge to consecutive sentences (discussed here), says its up to Supreme Court to reconcile Ice with Foster… Search warrant or court order not necessary to obtain DNA sample from defendant’s penis after he’s arrested, says 2nd District… 9th District says that, under burglary statute, privilege to enter premises is revoked where defendant enters lawfully but thereafter commits violent felony, but that doesn’t apply where only a threat is made… Simple ruling from 8th District:  if judge doesn’t mention post-release controls during plea, plea gets vacated… Defendant not entitled to appointed counsel on post-sentence motion to vacate guilty plea, 5th District rules… Totality of circumstances allowed officer to search “lunge area” of interior of car after defendant removed, placed in cruiser, says 12th District; Arizona v. Gant not applicable because defendant not arrested, would have been allowed to return to vehicle…

Civil.  Trial court erred in imposing statutory rate of interest to judgment when contract clearly provided an interest rate, says 9th District… 12th District finds that plaintiff daughter is collaterally estopped from suing her father for claimed sexual abuse where that issue was completely litigated in divorce and visitation proceedings, and decided in favor of father…

More reasons not to dine out.  In Merritt v. Big D & Lulu, the 1st District affirms summary judgment against a plaintiff who slipped in a tavern restroom, finding that the plaintiff had failed to show that the owner should have had constructive notice of the overflowing toilet.  The plaintiff had relied on the 1st’s 1993 decision in Wesley v. McDonald’s, but the court distinguished that case, noting that in Wesley the bathroom floor was covered in two inches of water – or something like water — thus suggesting that it should have been discovered.

Baseball trivia.  How many intentional walks did Roger Maris get the year (1961) he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record?  None.  He hit third in the Yankees lineup that year, and batting behind him was a guy named Mickey Mantle, who hit .317 with 54 home runs.