The convictions and death sentence of a Cleveland serial killer were affirmed by the Ohio Supreme Court last week. Anthony Sowell, who kidnapped and murdered 11 women and then buried or concealed their bodies at his home on Imperial Avenue in Cleveland’s east side, was arrested in 2009 when police investigating a rape complaint against [...]
The Ohio Supreme Court held this week that the dismissal of robbery charges against an immigrant defendant was “meaningless” when it came to possible deportation under immigration law. But the high court also held that a trial court’s failure to inform a defendant of possible deportation or other immigration consequences before admitting him to a [...]
The Supreme Court of Ohio recently affirmed the denial of a writ of mandamus for a man convicted of attempted murder. The per curiam decision affirmed the judgment of the 8th District Court of Appeals which dismissed Samuel Tucker’s complaint for a writ of mandamus. Tucker pleaded guilty to attempted murder and kidnapping in 2002 [...]
The United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit recently granted the habeas corpus petition of a death row inmate and ordered a resentencing hearing. Percy “June” Hutton was convicted in 1986 of the aggravated murder of Derek “Ricky” Mitchell and the attempted murder of Samuel Simmons Jr. along with two counts of kidnapping [...]
A Cleveland man who was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the attempted murder of two police officers will not be able to have his criminal record sealed according to a ruling from the 8th District Court of Appeals. The decision from a three-judge appellate panel affirmed the judgment of the Cuyahoga County [...]
The 8th District Court of Appeals recently reversed a murder conviction based on an error during jury selection. Carl Hampton, who was convicted in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas on charges of murder, felonious assault, involuntary manslaughter and assault, was granted a new trial despite the fact that the court of appeals found [...]
In a 4-3 ruling this week the Ohio Supreme Court held that an electric company could not be held liable for injuries sustained by a motorist who was struck by a deer and then hit a utility pole. The decision reversed the rulings of two lower courts — the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas [...]
The Ohio Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Kit Testing Initiative launched five years ago has hit some significant milestones. Marking the occasion of Cuyahoga County’s 500th indictment of a defendant in two previously unresolved rape cases, Attorney General Mike DeWine announced the initiative’s efforts had returned 4,055 DNA matches on 11,257 previously untested rape kits. The [...]