Sealing a record of non-conviction: a two-year delay for people who were not indicted and immediate eligibility for people who were indicted People in Ohio are eligible to seal a record of non-conviction immediately after a dismissal, yet people who are accused of a...
Criminal Defense
Ohio Law F.A.Q. Part I – Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving
In an effort to curb drunk driving and to prevent impaired drivers from ever getting behind the wheel, it's not uncommon to hear the admonition "remember: buzzed driving is drunk driving." While an effective marketing ploy and pithy phrase, does the Ohio Revised Code...
Supreme Court of Ohio Upholds Reasonable Bail Decision
On January 4, 2022, the Supreme Court of Ohio wasted no time in the new year in entering a historic decision. Over the past few years, criminal justice reform has been on the forefront of the political arena, news media, and equal rights activists. A substantial issue...
Can the police use the clothes I wear into a hospital against me?
Based on the Ohio Supreme Court’s recent decision in State v. LaRosa, Slip Opinion No. 2021-Ohio-4060, the short answer is the classic lawyer response of “it depends” or “maybe.” The answer for LaRosa was “not without a warrant” but that didn’t legally prohibit the...
Am I eligible to Seal my Ohio Conviction?
The recent trend from the Ohio legislature has been to expand the types and number of convictions that defendants are able to have sealed, what some people often consider to be expunged. There are two factors that must be considered when determining if a defendant is...
Why Did the Police Charge Me with Two OVI Offenses?
When a person tests over the legal limit for alcohol or drugs, most police officers charge under both the impairment subsection and the legal limit subsection. Under Ohio law, there are generally two types of OVI offenses. One is based upon being impaired (subjective...
What does Ohio’s new anti-hazing law mean?
Governor Mike DeWine signed “Collin’s Law: The Ohio Anti-Hazing Act” into law on July 6, 2021. The law substantially alters R.C. § 2903.31, Ohio’s criminal statute against hazing. The new law is not just aimed at regulating student behavior; administrators, faculty,...
Look After Your Fences: 12th District finds no violation of the law when officer conducts a warrantless search through a broken fence.
The 12th District Court of Appeals (governing Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Fayette, Madison, Preble, and Warren counties) recently held in State v. Neanover that a deputy dog warden’s decision to look through a hole in Mr. Neanover’s privacy fence, without a...
Ohio’s Old Self-Defense Law
On March 28, 2019, Ohio’s self-defense law changed. Prior to that date, if an accused wanted to argue self-defense (which, if successful, would result in a not guilty finding), the person would have to prove it was more likely than not all elements of self-defense...
The Presumption of Innocence, Burden of Proof, and Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
Presumption of innocence We’ve all heard the term innocent until proven guilty, but what exactly does that mean? Simply put, it means an accused in a criminal case is assumed to be not guilty unless the state can prove beyond a reasonable doubt otherwise. It is often...


