Case Update
Summertime, and the blogging is easy... The Washington Gang is off until October, and the Columbus Seven is apparently in cruise mode: the most notable decision out of the Ohio Supreme Court this past week was the granting of a motion to set the execution date for Gregory L. Bryant-Bey, who killed a Toledo man in 1992. Bryant-Bey's date with the gurney is in November, but he doesn't need to cancel his magazine subscriptions just yet; as this article points out, he's going to be joining a federal civil rights lawsuit over Ohio's three-drug method of execution, despite the affirmance of Kentucky's similar procedure by the US Supreme Court this past spring.
At any rate, in keeping with the more leisurely legal pace, I'm going to have a little break, too, taking time off from blogging this Thursday and Friday. On to the courts of appeals, where the work continues unabated...
Civil. 1st District says that when employee loses workers comp claim over lung problems arising from chemicals in plant, he's collaterally estopped from suing his employer for intentional tort arising out of the same exposure... Also vacates punitive damage award and remands for consideration in light of Supreme Court decision in Barnes v. University Hosp., discussed here... 8th District says that objection to jury instruction was timely made where first opportunity to do so was after judege had told jury "case is in your hands" and sent them out to deliberate... 9th District reverses court's rejection of father's motion to change custody because of mother's conviction of sexual misconduct with minor based on her sleeping with 15-year-old neighbor; appellate court says there's a difference between lifestyle choices and getting convicted for a crime which maks you sexually oriented offender... 8th District reversed $500 fine for contempt of court, says attorney's failure to show up on time for hearing was indirect, not direct, contempt...
Criminal. 8th District says that defendant not denied right to present witnesses where trial court refused to issue bench warrant for witness because defense hadn't been successful in serving witness with subpoena... 9th District affirms conviction of theft where defendant hid objects in cart, but left store before getting to checkout... 3rd District says that plea to contributing to the delinquency of a minor does not create double jeopardy bar to prosecution for gross sexual imposition and corrupting another with drugs... Don't they cover this in law school? 5th District reminds us all that plea of guilty waives right to appeal ruling on motion to suppress... 8th affirms grant of motion to suppress identification where 80-year-old victim suffering from head trauma shown single photograph in hospital... 5th District says that defendant opened door to admission of prior disorderly conduct conviction by placing character in issue by testifying that she was nonviolent...
Good news, bad news. In State v. Sutton, the defendant presented twelve assignments of error, and won one: the appellate court agreed that the two of the counts for inducing panic should've been convictions for misdemeanors, not felonies, since the degree of the offense wasn't specified in the verdict form. That knocked out two of the twenty convictions, and three of the 46 1/2 years the defendant had been sentenced to.
Here's a lawsuit with a lot of promise. Plaintiff who'd filed a lawsuit against Giant Eagle for false arrest and intentional infliction of emotional distress based upon their accusing him of shoplifting appeals the grant of summary judgment, claiming that the court erred in allowing the defendant to file the motion beyond the date set for dispositive motions. The court of appeals rejects this claim, noting that the deadline was extended because the defendants had difficulty deposing plaintiff due to "his incarceration on unrelated matters."
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