Court Filings

The Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals affirmed Mark Moore’s conviction for third-degree domestic violence following a bench trial. The case arose from the defendant’s mother reporting that Moore shoved her into a refrigerator door on February 28, 2025. The trial court credited the victim’s testimony, medical records, and photographs over Moore’s denial that he assaulted his mother. On appeal Moore argued the verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence, but the appeals court found the trial court, as factfinder, reasonably resolved credibility disputes and did not clearly lose its way.

The Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals affirmed a 17-to-20 year aggregate prison sentence imposed on defendant-appellant Dameon Kijanski after he pled guilty to multiple felonies arising from a November 29, 2024 shooting of two teens. The trial court ordered three counts to run consecutively (two felonious-assault counts for separate victims and one having-weapons-while-under-disability count) and the remaining counts concurrent. The appeals court held the record supported the required statutory findings for consecutive sentences — including multiple victims and the defendant’s criminal history — and applied the deferential standard of review to affirm.

The Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s denial of Arto D. Green III’s postsentence motion to withdraw his guilty plea and rejected his ineffective-assistance claim. Green had pled guilty to aggravated robbery with a one-year firearm specification and was sentenced under the Reagan Tokes Law to a minimum of seven up to ten years. He later argued he suffered mental-health problems at the time of plea and that counsel failed to investigate or seek transfer to the court’s mental-health docket. The appellate court found the record did not show qualifying mental-health issues or prejudice from counsel’s actions, and no manifest injustice or need for an evidentiary hearing was shown.

The Eighth District Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions and sentence of Augustus G. Frazier, IV for murder, felonious assault, and having weapons while under disability arising from the August 8, 2023 killing of Alexander Eaton. The jury convicted Frazier of murder and related firearm specifications after trial; two weapons counts were tried to the bench. The court held the evidence — eyewitness testimony of a codefendant, corroborating video, GPS data, tattoos, and forensic findings — was legally sufficient and not against the weight of the evidence. The court also rejected claims of improper jury guidance, an improper complicity instruction, and ineffective assistance of counsel.

The Ohio Court of Appeals (Eighth District) affirmed the convictions of defendant-appellant Cecil Fluker for burglary, menacing by stalking, and intimidation following jury trial. Fluker challenged the sufficiency and weight of the evidence, joinder of indictments, jury instructions, admission of evidence (including jail calls and hearsay), and effectiveness of trial counsel. The court found the jail calls admissible as evidence of consciousness of guilt, any hearsay error harmless because the declarant testified and was cross-examined, joinder and instructions proper, and trial counsel’s strategic choices reasonable. The convictions were therefore affirmed and the case remanded for execution of sentence.

The Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed Todd Clark’s nine-year aggregate prison sentence for sexual battery and two counts of gross sexual imposition following his guilty pleas. Clark argued the trial court erred by stating a statutory presumption of imprisonment applied to sexual battery. The court found the trial judge misstated the law but that the error did not change the outcome because the judge independently considered required sentencing factors (including the victim’s age, psychological harm, the familial relationship that facilitated the offenses, and Clark’s lengthy criminal history) and expressly rejected community control. The sentence was supported by the record and law.

The Eighth District Court of Appeals reviewed a breach-of-contract suit in which SPM obtained judgment against guarantor Brinker after tenant Romano’s defaulted and vacated leased premises. The court reversed the trial court in part and remanded. It held that the lease did not expressly abrogate the landlord’s duty to mitigate damages, so mitigation was required as a matter of law once SPM retook possession. Because there are disputed facts about whether SPM made reasonable mitigation efforts, the case was sent back for a factfinder to determine mitigation and the correct damages. The court also remanded the unresolved attorney-disqualification motion for the trial court to decide on the merits.

The Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals vacated a domestic-violence civil protection order (DVCPO) that a Cuyahoga County domestic-relations magistrate had entered against G.S. following a full hearing. The court reviewed the record and concluded the petitioner, R.S., failed to present sufficient, credible evidence by a preponderance that she was in danger of domestic violence. Because the appellate court found the evidence inadequate—R.S.’s uncorroborated testimony, impeachment by exhibits, and competing testimony and exhibits from G.S.—the DVCPO was vacated and the case remanded for notification that the order is no longer in effect.

The Cuyahoga County Probate Court appointed an independent, non‑interested attorney as successor trustee of the Gary L. Bryenton Declaration of Trust after the named successor declined and a proposed beneficiary appointment was disputed. Barbara Bryenton had filed a notice appointing herself and her daughter Elisabeth as co‑trustees, but the court struck that notice, found conflicts among beneficiaries (notably Susan’s allegations of bias), and, after a short hearing with no sworn evidence, appointed a neutral trustee. The appellate court affirmed, finding no abuse of discretion and that the probate court followed the statutory priority for filling trustee vacancies.

The Eighth District Court of Appeals affirmed the Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court’s order keeping a one-year civil domestic violence protection order (DVCPO) in place against B.S. (“Stepfather”). Father filed for the DVCPO after Stepfather pushed his son T.H. into a wall twice in November 2024, causing a concussion; CCDCFS substantiated physical abuse and a municipal temporary protection order accompanied a related criminal case. The magistrate found the child-abuse evidence credible and the trial court overruled Stepfather’s objections. The appellate court held the continuance and the DVCPO were not an abuse of discretion and were supported by the record.

The Eighth District Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of medical-malpractice claims against Dr. Faisal Quereshy. Plaintiffs had originally filed suit in May 2022 and obtained extensions to file a required affidavit of merit, but failed to timely produce one. After refiling in November 2023 and receiving another 90-day extension, plaintiffs again missed the deadline and later attempted to cure the defect by filing an amended complaint with an affidavit. The court held that Civ.R. 10(D)(2)’s strict extension limits control and plaintiffs’ late affidavit could not cure the deficiency, so dismissal was proper.

The Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed appellant Lashawn M. Slaughter’s convictions for two counts of nonsupport of dependents (fifth-degree felonies). The jury found he failed to pay court-ordered child support for his son over two consecutive two-year periods (2014–2018). The court concluded the State proved failure to pay under R.C. 2919.21(B) and that the defendant failed to meet the affirmative defense that he provided support within his means. The court found no reversible error in sufficiency, weight of the evidence, jury instructions, prosecutorial comments, or trial counsel’s performance.

The Ohio Tenth District Court of Appeals affirmed the juvenile court’s decision granting permanent custody of two-year-old A.S. to Franklin County Children Services (FCCS), thereby terminating the parental rights of mother L.S. After FCCS filed for permanent custody following nearly two years of involvement because of mother’s mental-health crises, housing instability, and inconsistent engagement with case-plan requirements, the juvenile court found permanent custody was in the child’s best interest. The appeals court held the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying a day-of-trial continuance and that mother failed to show she received ineffective assistance of counsel or that any alleged deficiency prejudiced her case.

The Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals affirmed the juvenile court’s September 9, 2025 decision awarding Lucas County Children Services (LCCS) permanent custody of the minor E.D.-P. The child had been adjudicated dependent and temporarily placed with paternal relatives in Texas; LCCS later sought permanent custody. The appellate court held the juvenile court properly found by clear and convincing evidence that R.C. 2151.414(E)(11) applied because Mother had previously had parental rights involuntarily terminated to a sibling and failed to prove she could now provide a legally secure, adequate permanent placement. The court found Mother remained cohabiting and dependent with the child’s father, who showed no engagement in parenting, and the record supported the juvenile court’s findings that reunification was not feasible within a reasonable time.

The Ohio Seventh District Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's denial of John Eugene Morgan's postconviction petition. Morgan had been convicted of voluntary manslaughter, murder, and felonious assault after shooting a man; he argued that dash‑cam footage was improperly admitted, the search warrant for the footage was defective, and jury instructions were erroneous or resulted from ineffective assistance of counsel. The appellate court found most claims barred by res judicata because Morgan could have raised them earlier (including in his direct appeal or an application to reopen), and where those claims were considered, the record established no reasonable probability of a different outcome without the disputed evidence.

The Ohio Seventh District Court of Appeals affirmed the Belmont County Common Pleas Court’s grant of a civil stalking protection order (CSPO) sought by Petitioner D.F. against Respondent Melissa Starkey. The trial court found by a preponderance of the evidence that Starkey engaged in a pattern of conduct—social media posts, a threatening phone call to a bar owner, and related statements—that caused D.F. to reasonably believe Starkey would cause physical harm or mental distress. The appellate court held the evidence was legally sufficient, the trial court’s credibility findings were not against the manifest weight of the evidence, and the five-year duration was not an abuse of discretion.

The Seventh District Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s determinations that the Hendersons’ attempts to abandon severed mineral rights under Ohio’s Dormant Mineral Act were ineffective. Plaintiffs (heirs and assignees of John W. Means and Wolf Run II, LLC) sought declaratory judgment and quiet title to minerals under 160 acres. The court concluded the Hendersons failed to exercise reasonable diligence in locating mineral holders (they did not search Stark County records where holder addresses existed), so notice by publication was improper and abandonment failed. The court therefore affirmed quiet-title judgments for the plaintiffs and two defendant-holders (Means and Doxzen).

The Ohio Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals and reinstated the trial court’s convictions of Carol A. Seymour for providing heroin that contributed to a neighbor’s overdose death. The central question was whether the State had proved that Seymour’s conduct was an actual cause of death. The Court held that, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, sufficient circumstantial and expert evidence supported a finding that the heroin Seymour supplied was a but-for cause of the decedent’s death, so the convictions for involuntary manslaughter and corrupting another with drugs must be reinstated.

The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the Tenth District Court of Appeals' dismissal of Ramone Wright’s petition for a writ of mandamus against the Franklin County Municipal Court Clerk. Wright sought to compel the clerk to vacate an allegedly unconstitutional 2009 municipal-court conviction based on an apparent error in the judgment entry. The court held that Wright failed to state a mandamus claim because he did not show a clear legal right to vacatur, the clerk had no clear legal duty to vacate the judgment, and Wright had an adequate remedy by appeal. A separate request for judgment was denied as moot.

The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the Fourth District Court of Appeals’ dismissal of inmate Nikko N. Jones’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Jones argued that a judge who accepted his 2022 guilty pleas and sentenced him lacked authority because the judge had not been formally assigned to the case. The court held Jones’s petition was procedurally defective for failing to comply with R.C. 2969.25 and substantively deficient because any improper judicial assignment would make a judgment voidable, not void, and therefore is not a cognizable basis for habeas relief while his sentence remains unexpired.

The Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s March 10, 2025 judgment convicting Theodore Wilson of burglary, gross sexual imposition, and pandering obscenity and upholding concurrent prison terms with a seven-year minimum and a ten-and-one-half-year maximum for the burglary count. Wilson argued his sentence exceeded the agreed seven-year recommendation. The court held the plea agreement and related forms informed him that a second-degree felony carries an indefinite sentence under the Reagan Tokes law (minimum plus a maximum 50% longer), and because the State and Wilson jointly recommended the seven-year sentence which the court imposed (including the statutory maximum), the sentence was authorized and not subject to appellate modification.

The court affirmed the municipal-court judgment against Diane Unser. Unser was stopped for traffic violations, a K9 unit conducted a free-air sniff that alerted to narcotics, and a subsequent search uncovered two used syringes in her purse. The trial court denied her motion to suppress and she pled no contest to possessing drug abuse instruments. The appellate court held the dog sniff did not unlawfully prolong the stop, found the K9 was reliably trained and certified, and concluded the record (including counsel’s statements and hearing evidence) supplied the facts needed to convict her of a first-degree misdemeanor.

The First District Court of Appeals affirmed Melissa Smith’s misdemeanor conviction for disorderly conduct (R.C. 2917.11(A)(1)) after a bench trial in Hamilton County Municipal Court. Smith had argued she acted in self-defense after the victim, D.J., knocked Smith’s phone from her hand, but the court found the state proved Smith engaged in fighting and turbulent behavior and recklessly caused inconvenience, alarm, and annoyance. The court credited the testimony of the victim and responding officers over Smith’s account and concluded the evidence was sufficient and not against the weight of the evidence.

The court reviewed Seandell McCrary’s appeal of convictions for fentanyl trafficking and possession after a jury trial where he represented himself. The court held the trial court erred by failing to conduct a sufficient on-the-record inquiry under Crim.R. 44 before allowing McCrary to waive counsel, so his waiver was not shown to be knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. The court nevertheless found the suppression ruling and the sufficiency of the evidence supported retrial: probable cause supported the arrest and evidence seized is admissible. The convictions are reversed and the case remanded for a new trial.

The First District Court of Appeals reviewed two consolidated criminal appeals by Sparkle Jones after bench convictions in municipal court. The court affirmed Jones’s conviction for permitting drug abuse based on evidence found in her home (drug paraphernalia, cash, and firearms) but reversed and discharged her on two child-endangerment convictions because the State failed to show she had custody, control, or a parental role over her boyfriend’s children. The court therefore found sufficient evidence for the drug-related conviction but insufficient evidence to prove the required relationship/duty element for child endangerment.

The First District Court of Appeals affirmed Paul Boddy’s convictions following no-contest pleas for illegal possession of a firearm in a liquor-permit premises, carrying a concealed weapon, using a weapon while intoxicated, and possessing a defaced firearm. Boddy argued the trial court erred by not obtaining oral no-contest pleas, by failing to inform him on the record of the effect of his no-contest pleas, and by denying his motion to dismiss on Second Amendment grounds. The court held Boddy properly tendered written no-contest pleas, any Rule 11 advisory defect did not require vacatur because he did not show prejudice, and he waived his constitutional dismissal argument by entering pleas without pursuing the motion.

The First District Court of Appeals affirmed the juvenile court’s denial of a mother’s 2024 motion to regain legal custody of her two children, B.B. and R.W. The juvenile court and magistrate found the mother failed to prove changed circumstances since the 2018 legal-custody disposition to father. The court concluded the evidence (photos, medical summaries, and testimony) did not substantiate abuse or medical neglect by father nor show missed medical care produced harmful consequences sufficient to overcome the statutory presumption of permanency for juvenile-court custody orders.

The court of appeals affirmed the municipal-court judgments awarding Asbury Woods Senior Apartments $659.23 for unpaid rent, late fees, and a utility payment after defendant Gloria Render objected to the magistrate’s decision. The court found: (1) the trial court lacked jurisdiction to consider Render’s post-judgment motion for reconsideration because the court’s March 28, 2025 judgment was final; (2) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting a utility-transfer form despite Render’s claim the signature was forged, because the factfinder could compare signatures; and (3) Asbury’s damages claim was separate from the eviction claim, so dismissing the eviction did not require dismissal of the damages claim.

The Ninth District Court of Appeals affirmed the Summit County Common Pleas Court's denial of Jacky Robinson Jr.'s successive motion to withdraw his 2005 guilty plea to aggravated murder and aggravated burglary. Robinson argued sentencing errors, ineffective assistance of counsel, and breach of a plea agreement, but the appellate court held his claims were barred by res judicata because they could have been raised earlier or on direct appeal. The court explained that Robinson did not show the trial court lacked jurisdiction (which would render the sentence void) and therefore his motion was properly denied as successive and meritless.

The Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed a juvenile court judgment awarding permanent custody of infant J.J. to Lucas County Children’s Services (LCCS). The agency filed an original permanent-custody complaint two days after J.J.’s birth based on parents’ extensive prior child-welfare history, unresolved substance-use, housing, and domestic-violence concerns, and prior involuntary termination of parental rights to siblings. The trial court found by clear and convincing evidence that the parents had not rebutted the presumption in R.C. 2151.414(E)(11) and that awarding permanent custody to LCCS was in J.J.’s best interest, so parental rights were terminated.