Justia Ohio Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for aggravated murder, attempted murder, felonious assault, and aggravated arson and sentence of death on the aggravated murder count, holding that no reversible error occurred.Specifically, the Supreme Court held (1) the evidence was sufficient to support the aggravated murder conviction; (2) Defendant's aggravated murder conviction was not against the manifest weight of the evidence; (3) the record did not support Defendant's claim that the trial court denied Defendant standby counsel for the suppression hearing, and the court did not err by allowed Defendant to waive counsel for the mitigation hearing; (4) the trial court's comments prior to the mitigation hearing did not render the mitigation hearing fundamentally unfair; and (5) the death penalty in this case was appropriate and proportional. View "State v. Hundley" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals dismissing Appellant's complaint seeking a writ of mandamus ordering the Meigs County Court of Common Pleas to enter a final, appealable order of conviction, holding that Appellant had no clear legal right to the relief he sought.Defendant was convicted of multiple counts of aggravated murder with death penalty specifications, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated robbery. Defendant later commenced this action seeking a writ of mandamus ordering the common pleas court to finalize the judgment of conviction and resentence him, arguing that the common pleas court never journalized a final, appealable order of conviction. The court of appeals dismissed the complaint. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the common pleas court's judgment entry included all the required elements of a valid judgment of conviction and was, therefore, a final, appealable order. View "State ex rel. Lemaster v. Meigs County Court of Common Pleas" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied the writ of mandamus sought by Alex Penland asking the Court to order the trial court judge to issue findings of fact and conclusions of law as to the denial of Penland's two petitions for postconviction relief, holding that Penland had an adequate remedy at law to address the lack of findings issue.The trial court denied Penland's petitions for postconviction relief without making findings of fact and conclusions of law. The trial court's judgments were affirmed on appeal. Thereafter, Penland brought this mandamus action asking the Supreme Court to order the trial court judge to issue findings of fact and conclusions of law. Penland argued that the trial court's judgments did not constitute final, appealable orders because they lacked findings, and therefore, he was entitled to another appeal. The Supreme Court disagreed, holding that because the trial court's judgments had already been reviewed on direct appeal, Penland had an adequate remedy at law to address the lack of findings issue, precluding mandamus relief. View "State ex rel. Penland v. Dinkelacker" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part Defendant's convictions of, inter alia, three counts of aggravated murder and sentences of death on each count, holding that the trial court erred in convicting Defendant of two counts of kidnapping and further erred in imposing felony-murder death specifications predicated on kidnapping.On independent sentence review, the Supreme Court held that the evidence in the record was insufficient to support two of the kidnapping specifications, which were predicated on kidnapping. The Court affirmed the trial court's judgment in all other respects and affirmed all three sentences of death, holding that there was no other reversible error in the proceedings below. View "State v. Madison" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that Plaintiff had opted out of a class-action settlement that was approved in Seifi v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, holding that McAdams's status as a member of the Seifi class was determined in that case, and therefore, McAdams's claim in this case was barred by res judicata.While the Seifi class action was pending, McAdams filed a complaint against Mercedez-Benz USA, Mercedez-Benz Easton, and Mercedes-Benz of New Rochelle, alleging claims relating to issues with the balance-shaft gear and the transmission conductor plate of her Mercedes. After the judgment in the Seifi class action was issued, the trial court determined that McAdams was bound by the Seifi class action settlement because she had not formally opted out of the class action, and therefore, her balance-shaft-gear claim was barred by res judicata. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that McAdams had opted out of the Seifi class-action settlement. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that McAdams's claim that she had not opted out of the class action was barred by res judicata because the federal court determined who had opted out in its entry adopting the Seifi class-action settlement. View "McAdams v. Mercedes-Benz, USA, LLC" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals granting summary judgment in favor of Louis Giavasis, the Stark County Clerk of Courts, on Appellant's complaint for a writ of mandamus to compel the production of public records, holding that the court of appeals correctly concluded that Appellant's mandamus claim failed as a matter of law.Appellant filed a mandamus complaint seeking to compel Giavasis to provide records he had requested. The court of appeals granted summary judgment for Giavasis, noting that Giavasis had satisfied Appellant's first request and that, as to Appellant's second request, Appellant failed to comply with Ohio Rev. Code 149.43(B)(8). The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Appellant's mandamus claim failed as a matter of law. View "State ex rel. Ware v. Giavasis" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals upholding the sentence imposed on Defendant for violating the conditions of his community control, holding that Defendant's violation of the condition that he obey all orders of his supervising officer was not a "technical violation," and therefore, the 180-day cap on a prison sentence for a technical violation in Ohio Rev. Code 2929.15(B)(1)(c)(ii) did not apply.Defendant pled guilty to four drug charges and was sentenced to four years of community control. The community control included certain standard conditions that Defendant was alleged to have violated. The trial court found that Defendant's action violated three standard community-control conditions, revoked Defendant's community control, and imposed a thirty-four-month aggregate prison sentence. The court of appeals affirmed. On appeal, Defendant argued that the 180-day cap on prison sentences set forth in section 2929.15(B)(1)(c)(ii) applies to all community-control violations that are not felonies. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the plain language of the statute does not support Defendant's interpretation that all noncriminal violations constitute "technical violation[s]" under the statute; and (2) Defendant's violation of the second standard condition was not a "technical violation" under section 2929.15(B)(1)(c)(ii). View "State v. Nelson" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied Keontae Stuart's request for a writ of mandamus to compel Larry Greene, the public-records custodian for the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, to provide Stuart with a document from his public-records request, holding that because Greene eventually did provide a redacted copy of the document to Stuart, this aspect of the case was moot.In his merit brief, Stuart did not challenge the propriety of the redactions but, instead, argued that he was entitled to statutory damages due to Greene's alleged failure to make the record available promptly. The Supreme Court denied Stuart's request for a writ of mandamus compelling the payment of statutory damages, holding that, as a pro se litigant, Stuart was ineligible for an award of attorney fees. The Court also granted Greene's request to keep the supplemental notice sealed to keep the information confidential. View "State ex rel. Stuart v. Greene" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied Jerone McDougald's original action for a writ of mandamus to compel Larry Greene, the administrative assistance for the warden at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, to produce two public records and denied McDougald's request for an award of court costs and for statutory damages, holding that McDougald's request for a writ of mandamus was moot and that McDougald was not entitled to statutory damages.After McDougald filed his complaint for a writ of mandamus, Greene provided both documents to McDougald. Therefore, the Supreme Court dismissed the mandamus claim seeking those documents. The Supreme Court also denied McDougald's request for an award of statutory damages, holding (1) because McDougald did not deliver his two public-record requests by one of the qualifying statutory delivery methods, he was not entitled to an award of statutory damages; and (2) McDougald was not entitled to an award of court costs. View "State ex rel. McDougald v. Greene" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied Petitioner's request for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that Petitioner's allegations did not challenge the jurisdiction of the trial court and were therefore not cognizable in habeas corpus.In 1991, Petitioner was convicted of aggravated burglary and felonious assault. At issue in this case was whether the sentencing statutes in effect in 1991 or the sentencing statutes in effect in 2016 governed Petitioner's sentence. While he was incarcerated, Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, arguing that he was not sentenced for his 1991 convictions until 2016 when the trial court issued a new sentencing entry for the 1991 convictions, and that in 2016 the trial court should have sentenced him under the statutes that were in effect on that date. The Supreme Court denied relief, holding that Petitioner's claim of sentencing error was not jurisdictional and was not therefore cognizable in habeas corpus. View "McIntyre v. Hooks" on Justia Law