Justia Ohio Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

At issue in this case were thirteen unbuilt lots in a residential subdivision. For the tax year 2008, the county auditor set the value of each lot at $105,000. Taxpayer filed a complaint challenging the valuation and proposing a reduced value of $65,000 for each of the lots. After a hearing, the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) rejected the comparable-sales appraisal submitted by Taxpayer and reverted to the county’s valuation of the parcels, concluding that Taxpayer failed to meet its burden of showing a different value. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Taxpayer presented evidence that negated the auditor’s valuation of the unbuilt lots and triggered the BTA’s duty to perform an independent valuation of the property for tax year 2008. View "Apple Group Ltd. v. Medina County Bd. of Revision" on Justia Law

Appellants in this case were ProgressOhio.org, Inc., a member of the Ohio Senate, and a former member of the Ohio House of Representatives. Appellants brought a constitutional challenge to the JobsOhio Act, which created JobsOhio, a nonprofit corporation, and gave JobsOhio the right to purchase the state’s liquor distribution and merchandising operations. The trial court dismissed the case, concluding that Appellants lacked standing to sue. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that because Appellants had no personal stake in the outcome of this litigation, they lacked common-law standing to challenge the JobsOhio Act.View "ProgressOhio.org, Inc. v. JobsOhio" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs brought a tort action against the City of Cleveland and some of its employees (collectively, Relators). Relators filed a motion to dismiss based on political-subdivision immunity. The trial court denied the motion. The court of appeals reversed, holding the trial court erred in not granting the motion. On remand, the trial court dismissed Plaintiffs’ claims without prejudice. Relators filed a complaint for a writ of mandamus. The court of appeals denied the writ, concluding that it had not mandated a dismissal with prejudice and that Relators possessed adequate remedies in the ordinary course of law. The Supreme Court (1) reversed in part because the court of appeals found the City and its employees in their official capacities were immune, and therefore, the court of appeals should have issued a writ ordering the trial court to dismiss those counts with prejudice; and (2) affirmed as to the claims that were originally dismissed on grounds of failing to state a claim with regard to immunity of the employees in their individual capacities.View "State ex rel. Cleveland v. Astrab" on Justia Law

Sonya Jackson, an inmate, was represented by Assistant State Public Defender Dennis Pusateri when she filed a complaint for writ of mandamus alleging that she was entitled to parole. Pusateri allowed the magistrate to dismiss the action and then refiled the complaint. Because Pusateri erroneously believed that the court had dismissed the second complaint, he filed a new mandamus petition raising the same issues. Pusateri then voluntarily dismissed the second complaint in order to proceed with the third action. The court of appeals granted summary judgment for Defendants under the “double dismissal” rule. Pusateri filed a Ohio R. Civ. P. 60(B) motion for relief from the judgment of dismissal, arguing that the voluntary dismissal was the product of “excusable neglect.” The court of appeal denied the motion. Jackson appealed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Jackson failed to establish excusable neglect.View "State ex rel. Jackson v. Ohio Adult Parole Auth." on Justia Law

The Cincinnati Enquirer filed two original actions in the Supreme Court seeking extraordinary writs. In the first case, the Enquirer sought a writ of mandamus to compel the county court judge to vacate his order sealing records relating to the prosecution of a defendant for a disorderly-conduct misdemeanor charge. In the second case, the Enquirer sought a writ of mandamus to compel the judge to produce criminal records for the past five years that had been incorrectly sealed and a writ of prohibition to prevent him from enforcing his orders to seal those records. The Supreme Court (1) granted the writ in the first case because the judge did not follow the proper statutory procedure in sealing the case; and (2) denied the writs in the second case because the Enquirer failed to establish a clear legal right to the records it requested.View "State ex rel. Cincinnati Enquirer v. Lyons" on Justia Law

Appellant submitted requests for the personnel records of six employees of the West Licking Fire District to Appellee, the person responsible for public records for the district. Less than three business days after he had made the requests, Appellant filed a complaint for a writ of mandamus. Appellee produced the documents two hours after the suit was filed. The court of appeals dismissed the complaint, concluding that the records were produced in a reasonable amount of time and that Appellant had engaged in frivolous conduct. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part, holding (1) the district responded to Appellant’s request in a reasonable amount of time, and therefore, the court of appeals correctly dismissed the complaint; and (2) the court of appeals must hold a hearing before awarding attorney fees for frivolous conduct. View "State ex rel. Davis v. Metzger" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of tampering with evidence in violation of Ohio Rev. Code 2921.12(A). The appellate court reversed, concluding (1) for a defendant to be guilty of violating section 2921.12(A)(1), the defendant must impair evidence in an investigation that is ongoing or likely to occur by tampering with evidence related to the investigation; and (2) the record did not support a finding that Defendant acted with purpose to impair the value of evidence of any ongoing investigation or of any likely investigation. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) a conviction for tampering with evidence requires proof that the defendant intended to impair the value or availability of evidence related to an existing or likely official investigation; and (2) in this case, the record did not support conviction for tampering with the evidence.View "State v. Straley" on Justia Law

Appellant pled guilty to two counts on which he was indicted. Appellant later filed a motion seeking to withdraw his guilty plea. The trial court overruled the motion and then sentenced Appellant. The court of appeals affirmed. After Appellant’s second motion to withdraw his guilty plea was denied by the trial court and the court of appeals, Appellant filed this action in mandamus requesting an order compelling the trial court to conduct a hearing on his presentence motion to withdraw his guilty plea. The court of appeals granted the court of common pleas judge’s motion to dismiss. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Appellant was not entitled to a writ because he had and exercised an adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law by way his motions and the appeal of the denial of those motions. View "State ex rel. Nickelson v. Bowling" on Justia Law

Erin McCardle and Leatrice Tolls, protesters involved in the Occupy Cleveland movement in the Public Square area of Cleveland, were arrested and charged with a curfew violation under Cleveland Codified Ordinances 559.541. The ordinance prevents any person from remaining in the Public Square area between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. without a permit. The defendants moved to dismiss the charges, asserting that the ordinance violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The Cleveland Municipal Court denied the motions to dismiss. The defendants subsequently pled no contest to the curfew violation. The court of appeals reversed and remanded the cases, holding that the ordinance violated the First Amendment because Cleveland’s interests were insufficient to justify its limit on speech, and the ordinance was not narrowly tailored. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the ordinance was constitutional under the United States Constitution, as it was content-neutral, narrowly tailored to advance a significant government interest, and allowed alternative channels of speech.View "City of Cleveland v. McCardle" on Justia Law

East Bank Condominiums II, LLC filed valuation complaints challenging the county auditor’s assessment of twenty-one units in a condominium complex owned by East Bank. The county auditor valued each unit as a separate parcel. The Dublin City Schools Board of Education filed countercomplaints seeking to retain the auditor’s valuations. The Board of Revision (BOR) disagreed with the assessment and accepted the bulk-appraisal valuation that East Bank submitted. The Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) reinstated the county auditor’s valuations. The Supreme Court reversed the BTA, holding that the BTA erred in reverting back to the auditor’s determination of value. The school board moved for reconsideration. The Supreme Court granted in part the school board’s motion, holding (1) the BTA was correct in rejecting East Bank’s bulk-appraisal valuation for the units; but (2) the BTA was incorrect in adopting the auditor’s valuations. Remanded to the BTA for an independent determination of value.View "Dublin City Schs. Bd. of Educ. v. Franklin County Bd. of Revision" on Justia Law