Ohio Supreme Court Watch

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On November 13, 2014, the Supreme Court of Ohio handed down a merit decision in State v. Johnson, 2014-Ohio-5021. In a unanimous opinion written by Justice Terrence O’Donnell, in which Justices Paul Pfeifer and Judy Lanzinger concurred in judgment only, the court held that the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule precluded suppression of…

On November 4, 2014, the Supreme Court of Ohio handed down a merit decision in State v. Hoffman, 2014-Ohio-4795. In a 6-1 opinion written by Justice Judy Lanzinger, in which Justice Terrence O’Donnell wrote a short separate concurrence and Justice Paul Pfeifer dissented, the court held that the arrest warrants in this case were…

Update: Read what happened on remand here

On October 28, 2014, the Supreme Court of Ohio handed down a merit decision in State ex rel. Yeaples v. Gall, 2014-Ohio-4724. In a 6-1 opinion written by Chief Justice O’Connor, in which Justice Pfeifer concurred in judgment only and Justice O’Neill dissented, the court resolved…

On October 21, 2014, the Supreme Court of Ohio handed down a merit decision in Friebel v. Visiting Nurse Assn. of Mid-Ohio, 2014-Ohio-4531. In a 5-2 decision written by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, in which Justice Terrence O’Donnell concurred in judgment only, the court held that the dual purpose or dual intent doctrine (the…

Case Background

Paul Jones and Latosha Sanders bought a new house from Centex Homes. After they moved in, they found that their electronic equipment didn’t work right. They alleged that the reason was because metal joists in the house were magnetized. Another couple, Eric and Ginger Estep, brought a lawsuit against Centex with identical issues.…

On October 14, 2014, the Supreme Court of Ohio handed down a merit decision in Schill v. Cincinnati Ins. Co.,  2014-Ohio-4527. At issue in the case was the availability of umbrella coverage from an insurance policy in a wrongful death case. The answer turned on the definition of domicile in the policy.  In a…

Case Background

When this accident happened Michael Hawsman was twelve years old; he is now an adult, which is why the case caption now lists his full name instead of his initials. Speedy justice this is not.

In May of 2006 Michael broke his knee in a diving board accident at the Cuyahoga Falls Natatorium…

On October 8, 2014, the Supreme Court of Ohio handed down a merit decision in Bank of Am., N.A. v. Kuchta, 2014-Ohio-4275. In a 5-2 opinion written by Chief Justice O’Connor, for herself and Justices Lanzinger, O’Donnell, French, and Kennedy, the court answered the following certified conflict question in the negative:

“When a defendant…

Update: On November 25, 2014, the plaintiffs filed a satisfaction of judgment in the case.

Case Background

Larry Moretz had suffered from acute back pain for many years. In 2005, Dr. Kamel Muakkassa, a neurosurgeon, diagnosed Moretz with an anterior sacral menigocele, a rare type of cyst in the lower spinal cord. Muakkassa referred Moretz…