Court Filings

The Court of Appeals dismissed Roy Boone Bright's appeal from the trial court's denial of a December 2025 motion that sought to vacate his 2019 convictions and recidivist sentence. The court held Bright had no right to appeal because his filing improperly attempted to collaterally attack the validity of his convictions through a post-conviction motion that is not a permitted procedure in a criminal case. The court relied on Georgia Supreme Court precedent establishing that such efforts to set aside convictions by post-conviction motion are not appealable and therefore must be dismissed.

The Court of Appeals of Georgia affirmed Marcelino Rebollar’s convictions and sentences. After a jury convicted Rebollar of two counts of aggravated child molestation and one count of child molestation, he appealed, challenging the sufficiency of evidence for one aggravated-child-molestation count, trial counsel’s effectiveness for not requesting a lesser-attempt charge, and the constitutionality of consecutive life sentences. The court found the evidence sufficient, concluded counsel’s choices were reasonable trial strategy and not shown to be deficient, and held the sentencing claim was unpreserved because it was not raised at sentencing. The convictions and sentences were affirmed.

The Ohio Tenth District Court of Appeals reviewed Johnnie J. Wappner’s convictions for felonious assault, felony murder, and reckless homicide following a jury trial. The court held that the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on the defense-of-others for Wappner’s intentional act of striking the victim and on accident for his separate act of shooting the victim; both defenses could apply to different acts alleged by the prosecution. Because that instructional error was not harmless and affected Wappner’s felonious assault and felony murder convictions, those convictions were reversed and the case remanded for a new trial as to those counts; the reckless homicide conviction was affirmed.

The Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the convictions of Travis Ratcliff because the trial court misinformed him at his plea-change hearing about the nature and maximum length of the prison terms he faced. Ratcliff had pleaded guilty to seven counts, including two second-degree felonies that, under Ohio law after the Reagan Tokes Act, carry mandatory indefinite sentences. The trial judge told Ratcliff those counts carried definite two-to-eight year terms and the written plea form repeated that error. The appeals court concluded this was a complete failure to comply with Criminal Rule 11(C)(2)(a) and vacated the pleas without requiring a showing of prejudice.

The Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals affirmed the Fulton County Common Pleas Court’s June 5, 2025 judgments sentencing James Pontious to an aggregate 24-month prison term. Pontious was convicted after a bench trial of tampering with evidence for submitting an Alcoholics/Narcotics Anonymous meeting sign-in sheet he knew to be false and intended to mislead his probation officer. The appeals court rejected arguments that trial errors, discovery violations, admission of testimony, insufficiency and weight of the evidence, and Miranda problems required reversal, finding any evidentiary errors harmless and the proof sufficient and not against the manifest weight.

The court affirmed the trial court’s revocation of Edward Bobby Martinez’s community supervision for indecency with a child by sexual contact and the imposition of his ten-year sentence, but it modified the judgment and bill of costs to remove language permitting future assessment of court-appointed attorney’s fees. The court held that Martinez’s refusal to submit to an instant-offense polygraph—required by his sex-offender treatment—constituted a violation of supervision because his Fifth Amendment privilege no longer applied to the final, adjudicated offense. Because Martinez has been found indigent, the court deleted any prospective attorney-fee assessment.

The Court of Appeals dismissed its own consideration of Xavier Demon Walker’s discretionary application and transferred the matter to the Supreme Court of Georgia. Walker was convicted of felony murder and other crimes, and the trial court denied his new-trial motion. Because felony murder carries a possible death penalty and the Georgia Constitution gives the Supreme Court jurisdiction over cases where death was imposed or could be imposed, the Court of Appeals concluded it lacks jurisdiction and transferred the application to the Supreme Court for disposition.

The Ohio Seventh District Court of Appeals affirmed the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court's September 16, 2025 sentence of five consecutive one-year prison terms (aggregate five years) after Matthias Merritt Lewis pleaded guilty to five counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor. Lewis challenged only his sentence, arguing the record did not support the statutory findings for consecutive terms and that the trial court improperly considered societal harms of child pornography. The appellate court found the record, including Lewis’s admissions about two years of viewing and trading images across multiple platforms and the graphic nature of the materials, supported consecutive sentences and that considering societal impact was authorized by statute.

The appellate court affirmed Jennifer Hefner’s convictions and sentences from the Lake County Court of Common Pleas. Hefner was convicted after a jury trial of complicity to aggravated burglary, complicity to kidnapping, burglary, and having weapons while under disability (several counts merged at sentencing). The court found the State presented sufficient evidence—including phone records, surveillance, witness testimony, and Hefner’s own statements—that she knowingly assisted or encouraged the home invasion and related assaults. The court also rejected challenges to the denial of Crim.R. 29 acquittal, weight-of-the-evidence claims, and an ineffective-assistance claim regarding joinder of two cases for trial.

The Court of Appeals reversed a Warren Municipal Court order that denied the State leave to dismiss an aggravated menacing charge against Christopher Glover. The municipal court refused dismissal despite the prosecutor’s detailed statement that the named victim (A.H.) did not see a gun and did not fear Glover, two on-scene officers could not corroborate aggravated menacing, and the defendant joined the dismissal request. The appellate court held the trial court abused its discretion by substituting a sufficiency-of-the-evidence inquiry for the narrow leave-of-court review required when a prosecutor seeks dismissal.

The Eleventh District Court of Appeals dismissed Albert DiTomaso’s appeal because the trial court’s judgment was not a final, appealable order. DiTomaso was tried and convicted on six of eight indictment counts, but two counts (one OVI count and an assured-clear-distance minor misdemeanor) were not resolved in the record and were not presented to the jury. Because unresolved "hanging" charges remain, the appellate court concluded it lacks jurisdiction to review the convictions and therefore dismissed the appeal.

The Third District Court of Appeals affirmed Andrew Myers’ conviction for operating a vehicle while under the influence of a listed controlled-substance metabolite. Myers was stopped for speeding early on the morning of December 30, 2023; police observed signs of impairment, conducted field sobriety tests, arrested him, and obtained a urine sample showing marijuana metabolite. Myers moved to suppress the field test results and the urine test results; the trial court denied suppression. On appeal the court found the officer had reasonable suspicion to expand the stop, the officer substantially complied with sobriety-test standards, and the lab substantially complied with Ohio health regulations, so the convictions and sentence were affirmed.

The Ohio Third District Court of Appeals reviewed Jeremy Long’s convictions for multiple sex offenses against minors following a jury trial in Crawford County. The court held that the trial judge improperly allowed the prosecutor to amend two rape counts just before trial in a way that changed the identity of the charged offenses, so those two convictions (Counts 1 and 3) were reversed. The court affirmed Long’s remaining convictions (one rape count, three rape counts as renumbered, and two gross-sexual-imposition counts) because the evidence was not so weak or inconsistent that the jury clearly lost its way. The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the opinion.

The Ohio Third District Court of Appeals affirmed the Van Wert County Common Pleas Court. Ryan E. Houser pleaded no contest to murder (Count Two) under a plea agreement; other counts were dismissed. Houser had sought to withdraw his plea before sentencing and moved to suppress cloud-based cellphone data. The trial court denied his motion to withdraw and denied suppression; on appeal the court held the warrant was sufficiently particular and supported by a probable-cause nexus to the phone and associated cloud data, and alternatively police relied in good faith on the warrant. The appellate court therefore affirmed the conviction and sentence.

The Ohio Third District Court of Appeals affirmed the Henry County trial court's judgment in State v. Grond. Ashley Grond pleaded guilty to amended aggravated trafficking (a second-degree felony); the trial court sentenced her to 6–9 years, waived the statutory fine due to indigence, but imposed statutory court costs and stayed collection until 60 days after release. Grond argued the court erred by ordering costs without findings on her ability to pay or specifying which costs. The appellate court held the trial court complied with statutory duties: courts must impose costs and may—but are not required to—make ability-to-pay findings when denying waiver.

The Third District Court of Appeals affirmed the Auglaize County Municipal Court’s September 11, 2025 conviction of Abdullah M. Alqahtani for speeding. Alqahtani challenged admission of radar evidence, argued insufficient and against-the-weight evidence, and sought a continuance for additional discovery. The court held the trooper’s testimony and a radar certification provided adequate, case-specific proof of the device’s accuracy and operator qualifications, rejected claims of manifest-weight error, and found no abuse of discretion in denying a continuance because the State had provided the available discovery.

The Fifth District Court of Appeals granted the State's motion for reconsideration, vacated its earlier February 27, 2026 opinion, and affirmed the trial court's judgment revoking Jeffrey Heath's community control and imposing prison terms totaling 12–15 years. The court held that the trial court's September 2023 sentencing sufficiently notified Heath that prison terms (up to 20 years total across the counts) could be imposed upon violation of community control, and that the court properly reserved prison terms consistent with current R.C. 2929.19(B)(4). The court also held consecutive sentences were permissible under the circumstances because there was no existing prison term at the time the reserved terms were imposed.

The Fifth District Court of Appeals affirmed Terry L. Bickerstaff’s conviction for third-degree felony assault arising from an incident in a Mansfield Correctional Institution segregation recreation cell. The jury found that Bickerstaff swung through the bars at a corrections officer, J.N., and the court held the State presented sufficient evidence that he attempted to cause physical harm and that the victim suffered at least minor physical injury. The court relied on statutory language that assault includes attempts and on the victim’s testimony and bodycam footage to conclude a rational jury could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

A Wayne County jury convicted Brodey I. Murbarger of first-degree murder for the death of Megan Nichols; the court sentenced him to a 50-year term with 3 years of mandatory supervised release. On appeal Murbarger argued the court erred by denying a change of venue and funding for a phone-survey expert, that he was entitled to a Miller/Harris-type hearing because he was a young adult at the time of the crime, and that multiple murder convictions violated the one-act, one-crime rule. The appellate court affirmed the conviction and most rulings, held the venue and expert denials were not an abuse of discretion, declined to grant a Miller-type remedy on direct appeal, but vacated two duplicate murder convictions and ordered the mittimus corrected.

The Court of Appeal reversed and remanded defendant Jose Gerardo Espiritu’s conviction for sexual offenses because the trial court failed to follow the process required by Code of Civil Procedure section 231.7 during jury selection. Defense counsel objected when the prosecutor used a peremptory challenge against a prospective juror who identified herself as a nurse. The trial court accepted the prosecutor’s stated reason (that the juror was a nurse) without determining whether that reason was a presumptively invalid ground under section 231.7(e)(10). Because the court did not make the required inquiry into presumptively invalid categories, the appellate court reversed and ordered a new trial.

A jury convicted Jordan Stephens of misdemeanor driving while intoxicated after police stopped his truck following a citizen’s 911 call reporting erratic driving. Officers observed signs of intoxication (odor of alcohol, glassy eyes), found empty alcohol bottles in the vehicle, and administered standardized field sobriety tests on which Stephens performed poorly. Stephens argued on appeal that errors in test administration and other explanations could account for observations, but the court found the combined evidence — eyewitness report of dangerous driving, officer observations, test performance, admissions about drinking, and refusal of blood testing — sufficient to support the conviction and affirmed.

The Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed William Freeman’s convictions on four counts of child molestation. Freeman had initially been appointed counsel but requested to represent himself; the trial court held a thorough Faretta hearing, found his waiver of counsel knowing and voluntary, and later an amended indictment added two additional like charges. Freeman argued on appeal the court should have re-inquired after the amended indictment and failed to ensure he understood the risks of self-representation. The appellate court found the original Faretta hearing adequate, no post-waiver request for counsel was made, and the amended charges did not change the nature or maximum exposure, so the waiver remained valid.

The Georgia Court of Appeals granted the appellant's motion to remand this criminal appeal to the trial court so the trial court can complete the appellate record. The trial court is directed to add exhibits that were properly admitted at the October 4, 2022 hearing. After the exhibits are filed or the trial court issues an order that the exhibits are unavailable, the Fulton County Superior Court Clerk must transmit the full record, transcripts, and exhibits back to the Court of Appeals for re-docketing under the existing notice of appeal.

The Ohio Second District Court of Appeals affirmed Nancy Jean Taylor’s 30-month prison sentence for felony theft from a person in a protected class. Taylor had pleaded guilty to stealing $7,504 from an elderly client and received a presentence investigation and restitution hearing. She argued on appeal that the trial court misapplied sentencing factors and that the sentence was excessive. The appeals court held the sentence was within the statutory range, the trial court indicated it considered the required sentencing statutes, and therefore the sentence was not contrary to law.

The Ohio Court of Appeals reviewed the trial court’s rulings in the death-penalty case of State v. Myers. The court affirmed the trial court’s decision to allow Myers to file a motion for a new trial, but it reversed the trial court’s grants of a new trial and of postconviction relief. The appellate court held the trial court abused its discretion and applied incorrect legal standards when it granted a new trial based on recently obtained DNA and forensic critiques, and the court lacked jurisdiction to grant postconviction relief because it failed to follow statutory gatekeeping procedures and applied the wrong legal tests.

The Seventh District Court of Appeals affirmed the Columbiana County Common Pleas Court judgment convicting Davante L. Jackson after he entered a no-contest plea to multiple drug and evidence-tampering charges. Jackson argued his trial counsel was ineffective for withdrawing a suppression motion without his knowledge and that his plea was not knowing, voluntary, or intelligent. The appeals court found the record does not show deficient performance or prejudice from counsel’s withdrawal of the motion, and the trial court substantially complied with plea procedures and ensured Jackson understood his rights and the plea consequences. The conviction and sentence (total 5½ to 7½ years) were affirmed.

The Fifth District Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s denial of Kenneth Lewis’s postconviction application for DNA testing of a long-sleeved shirt recovered after a 2020 pawnshop robbery. The court concluded a prior DNA test by BCI was definitive because it showed Lewis was the major contributor of DNA on the shirt, and Lewis did not present evidence that prior testing was unreliable or that new testing would be outcome determinative. The court also relied on strong corroborating evidence (surveillance video, eyewitnesses, officer recovery of the shirt, license plate identification, cash and items on Lewis, and a jailhouse confession).

The Superior Court considered James Smith’s challenge to the sufficiency of evidence for two convictions of unlawful contact with a minor after the Supreme Court remanded for reconsideration in light of Commonwealth v. Strunk. The Court concluded Smith’s verbal statements to the victims — instructing them to perform oral sex and directing one to lie on a table immediately before assaulting her — were communications that induced or otherwise furthered sexual exploitation and therefore satisfied the statute’s communicative requirement. The court affirmed Smith’s convictions and judgment of sentence.

The Superior Court affirmed Jonathan Rivera’s convictions and sentence following his second jury trial for multiple sexual offenses against four minor girls. Rivera argued the trial court vindictively imposed a longer sentence after he successfully appealed his first convictions and that applying a later-enacted felony grading to one corruption-of-minors count violated the ex post facto clauses. The court found a presumption of vindictiveness attached but held it was rebutted by objective new information at resentencing (an SVP designation, victims’ updated testimony and impact, and Rivera’s trial testimony showing lack of remorse). The court also found the record supported offenses occurring after the statute’s effective date, so no ex post facto violation occurred.

The Superior Court reviewed a trial court’s pretrial evidence rulings in the Commonwealth’s vehicular homicide prosecution of Joshua A. Rivera. The panel affirmed some exclusions and reversed others: it upheld exclusion of body-camera audio and a Facebook video, but reversed the exclusion of non-numeric lay descriptions of driving by certain eyewitnesses and reversal of the exclusion of drug-related items found in Rivera’s impounded vehicle. The court reasoned that in a criminal case where the prosecution must prove state of mind, lay witnesses may give contextual, non-numeric testimony about driving, and items found pursuant to a lawful warrant were relevant and not rendered inadmissible by the time gap while the car was impounded.