Criminal Defense

A few weeks ago, a divided United States Supreme Court in Carpenter v. United States, 2018 WL 3073916, *9 held Fourth Amendment protections extend to a cell phone user's cell tower location data held by the user's wireless company. Why? A cell phone user has a...

Does character matter in criminal and university discipline cases? Yes, In a criminal trial or at a university hearing evidence of your good character can help you, or your persistent bad character can haunt you. Let's talk about how.In a criminal case the "Rules of...

In modern society, the lingering effects of a criminal conviction often include the digital impact that your arrest will have on your career or future job prospects. Commonly, a sealed or expunged record can still have online echoes through online police blotters,...

The answer is no according to the most recent decision released by the Twelfth District Court of Appeals. In State v. Hurst (2018), 93 N.E.3d 1007, 2018-Ohio142, the Court issued a decision seemingly in conflict with the decision it issued roughly a year prior to...

In our criminal defense practice, it is not uncommon for a potential client to call us to ask about withdrawing a guilty plea they entered in the past. Depending on the circumstances, this can be very challenging. However, it can be done.When someone wants to withdraw...

Under Ohio law a sealed conviction can be used to enhance a subsequent charge. Even after a conviction has been sealed Ohio law permits disclosure of it in certain instances. Ohio Revised Code § 2953.32(D)(1) allows for inspection of a record "[b]y a law...

In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court made a decision regarding sentence reduction for defendants who entered plea agreements. The case, Freeman v. U.S., was about what to do with defendants already serving time when sentencing guidelines were later reduced. The Court...

If you have been charged with a criminal offense---particularly for the first time---you may be tempted to plead guilty "just to get it over with." Let me to start with this basic premise:That's a bad idea.First, the overwhelming majority of offenses carry the...

In June of 2012, the Ohio Legislature passed a bill creating a Certificate of Qualification for Employment ("CQE"). Contained in Revised Code § 2953.25, the CQE increases employment and licensing opportunities for individuals whose previous options had been few and/or...

Michelle Carter was recently found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2014 suicide death of her boyfriend, Conrad Roy III. The evidence relied upon by prosecutors was primarily text messages that Carter sent to Roy encouraging him to commit suicide.In...