Ohio Supreme Court

The court accepted the attorney’s resignation as a resignation with disciplinary action pending, withdrew his right to practice law in Ohio, and imposed a series of compliance obligations.

The Ohio Supreme Court held that R.C. 731.32 does not apply to petitions to amend a city charter and therefore the city clerk erred in rejecting the relators' charter‑amendment petition.

The court affirmed dismissal of Johnson’s habeas petition because his asserted pretrial and arraignment errors challenged only the exercise of jurisdiction, not the trial court’s jurisdiction itself, and therefore were cognizable, if at all, through direct appeal.

The Supreme Court of Ohio, per curiam, affirmed the Tenth District's dismissal of Ramone Wright's petition for a writ of mandamus seeking to compel the Franklin County Municipal Court to vacate a prior, unidentified conviction.

The Supreme Court of Ohio held that subsequent amendments to two statutes first enacted in an allegedly unconstitutional budget bill cured any purported violation of the Ohio Constitution's one-subject rule, because the amendments repealed the contested provisions and enacted new provisions that must be judged…

The court granted a limited mandamus writ concerning the requested proposal submitted for ODRC's food-services contract and otherwise denied relief. Clark failed to establish that ODRC possessed certain requested records, that the body-camera footage still existed, or that ODRC violated a duty by permitting inspection…

The Supreme Court of Ohio held that the Fourth District erred in dismissing the Nickells' appeal from a default judgment transferring a land-contract interest to judgment creditor Drushal as moot: nothing in the record indicated a voluntary satisfaction of the judgment, because the only affirmative act needed to…

The Supreme Court of Ohio denied a writ of mandamus that would have compelled the City of North Ridgeville to initiate a second appropriation proceeding to compensate the Standens for the alleged loss of roadway access to the residue of their property after a partial taking for a roundabout project.

The dissent agrees that the mandamus claim became moot after statutory amendment eliminated the director's duty to secure optional federal benefits, but concludes that declaratory-judgment and permanent-injunction claims remained justiciable because federal benefits might still be recoverable.

The court affirmed the court of appeals’ dismissal of the State’s attempted appeal from a postverdict judgment of acquittal. It concluded that the State could appeal such an order only with leave of the court of appeals, not as of right.

The court affirmed Brinkman’s aggravated-murder convictions and three death sentences after rejecting his challenges to the sentencing proceedings, plea and jury-waiver colloquies, indictment, evidence, and aggravated-burglary conviction.

The court denied mandamus relief because the record affirmatively showed that the trial court set hearings, provided prosecutorial notice, and complied with the statutory requirements governing the sealing of three criminal case files.

The court adopted the findings that Judge Ickes committed multiple violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct through harassment and vulgar or undignified conduct, an inappropriate workplace culture, use of a racial slur, inappropriate courtroom-related communications, and failure to disclose a familial conflict in a…

The court granted mandamus relief requiring production of records responsive to Harris's July 2024 request for his master file, subject to lawful redactions, because an internal prison policy could not override the Public Records Act.

The court affirmed the Public Utilities Commission’s certification of six out-of-state wind facilities as eligible Ohio renewable-energy-resource-generating facilities. It held that the record supported the Commission’s determination that the facilities’ generation was physically deliverable into Ohio, that the…

The court granted disciplinary counsel’s motion after respondent failed to respond to an order to show cause concerning his noncompliance with a panel chair’s order. It held respondent in contempt and suspended him from practicing law until he proves compliance, while imposing immediate practice restrictions and…

The court held that Ohio's financial-institutions tax does not violate the dormant Commerce Clause because its apportionment formula taxes only the portion of a bank's equity capital attributable to Ohio and would not cause multiple taxation if adopted by every state.

The court held that an appellate court reviewing the denial of summary judgment after a trial must consider the complete trial record, not only the evidence available when summary judgment was denied. It further held that R.C.

The Supreme Court of Ohio, in an original mandamus action, granted a peremptory writ compelling Ashville Fiscal Officer April Grube to certify the sufficiency and validity of a referendum petition challenging Resolution No.

The Supreme Court of Ohio held that a binding contractual appraisal award may be set aside only for fraud or manifest mistake—an error so palpably wrong that it undermines the intent of the agreement, such as corruption or gross mistake, not a mere error of judgment—and that under Civ.R.

The Supreme Court of Ohio affirmed the Eighth District's denial of a crime victim's motion for leave to file a delayed appeal from a sentencing entry that failed to award restitution. The court held that App.R.

The Supreme Court of Ohio affirmed the Tenth District, holding that R.C. 6133.10(A) required a two-judge panel—one judge from each affected county—to hear Colt's Neck's appeal from the joint board's post-first-hearing order because the appeal did not involve claims for compensation or damages. It held that R.C.

The Supreme Court of Ohio held that a trial court's order rejecting an application for postconviction DNA testing satisfies R.C. 2953.73(D)'s "reasons" requirement when it identifies a statutory reason for its decision, and that no further findings or analysis is required.

The court held that appellate courts reviewing manifest-weight challenges must defer to the fact-finder's credibility determinations, departing from a de novo assessment of witness credibility.

The Supreme Court of Ohio affirmed the Court of Appeals’ dismissal of Shepherd’s mandamus petition, holding that he failed to show a clear legal right or duty for a corrected sentencing entry and that he had an adequate ordinary‑law remedy, so the writ was unavailable.

The court held that a foreclosure appeal remains justiciable after the property is sold and the sale proceeds are distributed because the appellant may obtain restitution under R.C. 2329.45 if the foreclosure judgment is reversed.

The court upheld the findings that Baker violated four professional-conduct rules through knowingly false statements, frivolous and retaliatory litigation, harassment, and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.

The court held that the State may seek discretionary appellate review of a trial court's postverdict judgment of acquittal entered after a jury's guilty verdict, although the State may not appeal that judgment as of right.

The court affirmed dismissal of a private citizen’s quo warranto action seeking to remove the county clerk of courts. It held that the relator lacked statutory standing because he was neither an authorized public official nor a person claiming entitlement to the office.

The court affirmed the Eleventh District’s judgment upholding Polizzi’s 358-month aggregate prison term. It held that proportionality review of consecutive sentences does not require consideration of the total number of consecutive sentences or the resulting aggregate term, although a trial court may consider the…

The court affirmed dismissal of the mandamus claim as moot because the county board provided the requested record after the action was filed. It also affirmed the denial of statutory damages, holding that the court of appeals did not abuse its discretion in finding that the board reasonably believed, based on existing…

The court held that convictions on carbon-copy counts are permissible when the State presents discernible evidence corresponding to each count, even if the jury instructions and verdict forms do not themselves recite the factual basis for each count.

The court held that a bench that was structurally sound, functioning as intended, and free from tangible imperfection was not a physical defect under the political-subdivision-immunity exception. Berea’s decision to place the bench in a confined locker-room space therefore did not trigger liability under R.C.

The court granted mandamus relief requiring production of the authorization-for-crisis-precaution form because the director failed to establish that it was generated and maintained in the process of medical treatment.

The court held that appellate review of a juvenile court’s decision awarding permanent custody and terminating parental rights under R.C. 2151.414 must use sufficiency-of-the-evidence and/or manifest-weight-of-the-evidence standards, depending on the arguments presented.

The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals, holding that the defendant’s burden of production on a self‑defense claim is reviewed for sufficiency of the evidence, the state’s burden of persuasion to disprove self‑defense is reviewed for manifest weight, and the 2018 amendment to R.C.

The Supreme Court of Ohio held that R.C. 2953.08(G)(2) gives an appellate court no authority to modify or vacate a felony sentence on the ground that the record does not support the sentencing court's findings or considerations under R.C.

The court held that a trial court does not completely fail to comply with Crim.R. 11(C)(2)(a) when it advises a defendant that sex-offender registration applies but does not explain every related obligation and restriction.

The Supreme Court of Ohio affirmed Calvin McKelton's convictions for the 2008 murder of Margaret Allen and the 2009 aggravated murder of Germaine Evans, and affirmed his death sentence, rejecting all 21 propositions of law. The court upheld the late disclosure of eight witness names under Crim.R.

The Supreme Court of Ohio held that after H.B. 86 took effect, appellate courts reviewing felony sentences must apply the plain language of R.C. 2953.08(G)(2): a sentence may be vacated or modified only upon a clear-and-convincing finding that the record does not support the sentencing court's statutory findings or…