Ohio

Client says lawyer hypnotized her into sex acts; emergency license suspension sought

A Tuesday court filing by the Lorain County Bar Association is seeking the emergency suspension of a longtime Ohio lawyer, after an investigation in which a client wore a wire after police obtained a warrant to record their meeting. The client, backed by recorded evidence, contends that Sheffield attorney Michael…

Nov 19, 2014 1:15 PM CST

Fannie Mae pursues borrowers for foreclosure losses in ‘robo-signer redux’

Mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae is pursuing borrowers for its foreclosure losses in Florida, where a new law required the deficiency suits to be filed by July 1 of this year. Fannie Mae is seeking to recover the difference between the amount owed on foreclosed properties and the amount collected…

Nov 18, 2014 5:45 AM CST

Disciplinary counsel seeks judge’s suspension, says morning cases are often called in midafternoon

Already facing a disciplinary case, a Cleveland municipal judge is now the subject of a motion seeking a state supreme court order temporarily suspending her both from the bench and law practice. Although the court’s presiding judge has removed criminal cases from Judge Angela Stokes’ docket, she has been fighting…

Nov 12, 2014 2:30 PM CST

Man charged for covering church directory at courthouse with text of First Amendment

A 69-year-old Ohio man is facing a misdemeanor criminal mischief case after admittedly covering a church directory at the Athens County Courthouse with the text of the First Amendment last month. Eliot Kalman pleaded not guilty in the municipal court case, and a hearing is scheduled later this month, according…

Nov 11, 2014 5:00 PM CST

6th Circuit upholds same-sex marriage bans in 4 states; will issue now go to US Supreme Court?

For the first time, a federal appeals court has refused to recognize a constitution-based right of same-sex couples to marry, creating a circuit split and setting the issue up for likely U.S. Supreme Court review. In a 2-1 decision (PDF) on Thursday, the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals…

Nov 6, 2014 4:45 PM CST

Judge faces ethics investigation over prosecutor’s viewing of live courtroom feed

An Ohio judge is reportedly facing a legal ethics investigation because of a live feed of his courtroom proceedings that was available for the Warren County prosecutor to view in his office. The Cincinnati Enquirer says it has obtained documents that indicate Common Pleas Judge Donald Oda is being probed.…

Oct 31, 2014 11:40 AM CDT

Lawyer is more worried about climate change than Ebola; chance of wedding-shop exposure is remote

Cleveland lawyer Peter Pattakos recalls his reaction when a friend alerted him that he was fitted for a tux at an Akron wedding shop at about the same time that Ebola patient Amber Joy Vinson was in the store. “I thought, ‘Oh, that’s interesting,’ ” Pattakos tells the Northeast Ohio…

Oct 21, 2014 8:06 AM CDT

Ex-judge gets 60 days and 6 months of house arrest for prostitution and court records convictions

Convicted of misdemeanors last month for falsifying court records and having sex with prostitutes but acquitted of felony charges, a Bedford, Ohio, municipal court judge retired last week and has now been sentenced to a 60-day jail term and six months of house arrest. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Brian…

Oct 16, 2014 11:45 AM CDT

Lawyer who told client to destroy cellphone SIM card is acquitted of obstruction charge

A prominent Cincinnati criminal defense lawyer who told her client to destroy his cellphone SIM card was acquitted Tuesday on a charge of obstruction of justice. Federal prosecutors had argued lawyer Mary Jill Donovan likely knew that her drug client was being investigated when she told her client to destroy…

Oct 15, 2014 7:44 AM CDT

Jury convicts juvenile judge on 1 felony count, deadlocks on 8 others

After deliberating for days, an Ohio jury has convicted a suspended juvenile court judge of a felony but deadlocked on eight other charges. Judge Tracie Hunter could get as much as 18 months after being convicted of unlawful interest in a public contract in the Hamilton County case, but she…

Oct 14, 2014 1:00 PM CDT

Lawyer is federally indicted in heroin case, had $90K seized at airport

A California lawyer has been federally indicted in a heroin trafficking case in Las Vegas and lost $90,000 in cash when authorities seized the money from him at an Ohio airport earlier this year. Glen Hunsberger, 46, and two co-defendants were charged Tuesday by a grand jury with conspiracy to…

Oct 9, 2014 9:00 AM CDT

Woman is arrested after complaining to police about unflattering mug shot

Unhappy about a mug shot of herself posted on a law enforcement Facebook page that she felt was unflattering, a 34-year-old Ohio woman called the Columbus police department to complain. The Columbus Division of Police was taking part in a social-media campaign called “#WarrantWednesday,” in which law enforcement officials post…

Oct 8, 2014 11:55 AM CDT

SCOTUS blocks early voting scheduled in Ohio for today; ACLU official predicts confusion

Polls won’t be open today in Ohio after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday stayed lower court rulings that restored early voting in the state. The Supreme Court approved the stay in a 5-4 order, report the New York Times, the Washington Post, SCOTUSblog and the Columbus Dispatch. Justices Ruth…

Sep 30, 2014 10:11 AM CDT

How a series of attacks by a breakaway Amish sect became a landmark hate-crimes case (podcast)

The Amish religion is a branch of Christianity which adheres to a doctrine of simplicity, non-violence and forgiveness. How then did a breakaway group come to be implicated in the first federal trial which prosecuted religiously motivated hate crimes within the same faith community?

Sep 29, 2014 5:23 PM CDT

Grand jurors clear cops in fatal shooting of man carrying air rifle at Wal-Mart

A special grand jury in Ohio has declined to indict two police officers in the fatal shooting of a man holding a pellet gun and talking on his cellphone at a Wal-Mart store. Grand jurors in Xenia, Ohio, were asked to consider charges or murder, reckless homicide or negligent homicide,…

Sep 24, 2014 12:18 PM CDT