In this edition read about all things Criminal Law: environmental crimes, the Governor’s pardon power, debt-based driver’s license suspensions, adult-use cannabis, and Brady. Plus, read about topics like taking direct examination to the next level, transitioning from in-house to private practice, recognizing the signs of struggling with substance use disorder, and more!
Chair
BoardMembers
Joshua Cartee
Lisa Critser
Matthew Jalandoni
Janyce Katz
Garth Robotham
Melanie Tobias Editor&Designer
Lexi Foster
Karl
Scott R. Mote
Caitlyn Johnson 61 Recognizing the Signs: Helping Colleagues Struggling with Substance Use Disorder
69 Midwest Fresh: How Alchemy Blends Function and Flavor
Alexis Joseph
5 Technology and Criminal Law: Leveling the Playing Field
Dave Thomas &
Katie Wallrabenstein
81 Environmental Crimes in Central Ohio
Heather Robinson
Michael
7 The Pardon Power in Ohio: Granting Mercy or Creating Controversy?
Matthew L. Jalandoni
5 Brady v. Maryland: To Whom Does It Apply?
Lizett Schreiber Is It a Drug or a Plant? What You Need to Know About AdultUse Marijuana in Ohio
Kelsey A Kornblut
109On the Road to Justice: New Ohio Law Ends DebtRelated Driver’s License Suspensions
Olivia Gemarro
By Kelli Amador
In 1675, Isaac Newton wrote a letter to his contemporary, Robert Hooke, and in speaking of his accomplishments penned, “I stand on the shoulders of giants.” As I come into the Presidency of the Columbus Bar Association, I recognize that I’m able to focus on goals for the bar association because of the strong foundation laid for me by leaders of the past—a foundation from which all members of the bar benefit.
Staring down the pipe of June 12, 2025, I set myself on a mission to learn from people who have done it before: past presidents. With a list of names suggested to me by my own mentors, I made phone calls, left messages, sent emails, and at one point stopped someone in the parking garage to set up breakfasts, lunches, and drinks with the people who held the mantle before me.
Last fall, I had lunch with Sandra Anderson, the first woman president of the bar association. We talked about her tenure, and she advised that, like so many things in life, success at the bar is about showing up. She talked fondly of her board, stressed the importance of cohesion, and told me about the connections she was able to make and maintain as a bar member and as president.
On a bright and windy Tuesday this spring, I met with Dave Thomas, who talked to me about prioritizing bar duties around the demands of life and work. He talked about how even in the busiest seasons of his career, the bar was there to help him through it.
Carl Smallwood taught me that in presidency, common goals must be achieved together. Though he discussed differing opinions among his board, once the vote was in they all rowed together toward a singular objective, which made them better at achieving it.
Samuel Peppers emphasized the importance of relationships as a leader. After our lunch, we walked through the halls of my office, where he reconnected with former colleagues as if not a single day had passed. The connections are still meaningful to him, even in his retirement.
Tom Bonasera, whom I am lucky to say is my colleague, told me the importance of having goals as president. He shared his efforts to bring cognizance to issues of diversity in the legal profession. Though our presidencies are 32 years apart, there is still work to be done, and good leadership can help accomplish it.
Lisa Pierce Reisz said that presidency, like other things, is a matter of doing. “The more you do it, the better you’ll become.” The bar gave her opportunities to be a leader that she used in other areas of her career.
Despite being president some 24 years ago, Frank Ray has energy that rivals young trial attorneys. “Embrace your leadership,” he told me. By promoting the bar association, he advised, you not only help the bar but your own career. The words ring true as I reflect on all the things the bar has already done for me.
Finally, I met with my friend, mentor, and immediate past president, Aracely Tagliaventi, for dinner and drinks the night before my swearing in. She imparted to me how in her career, the bar became a place she could shine and a place that taught her the strength in her differences. This message was present both in her speech after her swearing in and in her final speech as president. The bar accepts members from all backgrounds and provides a place where varying perspectives are valuable and necessary.
Each of these giants told a story I’d heard before: They became involved in the bar association because someone they respected, be it a mentor or a colleague, encouraged them to do so. From there, their involvement snowballed and culminated in their tenure as president. But each stressed how they could never repay the bar for all they’d gotten back from their involvement, be it education, marketing, or, most importantly, connections. While the advice from my predecessors was different, each meeting ended in the same way: a boost of confidence, a hug, and “if you need anything, call me.” The willingness of these community giants to meet with me, advise me, and offer me help highlights the best part of the bar association: the people. As I approach the year ahead, I do so supported by everything the bar has provided me: education, relationships, and mentoring. These opportunities are available to all bar association members, no matter your age, background, practice, or experience.
And so, I enter my presidency with a call to action to you for the betterment of the bar and yourself: Come to an event and share what you have to offer for the benefit of all members. Bring a colleague. Join a group or network. And if you see me at the bar association, or around town, say hello and introduce yourself. This year, we will continue strengthening the bar association, but we need your help. As we continue our work on diversity in the profession and growing our member base, we cannot forget that our members are what it’s all about. We have the best bar because we have the best members, past and present. We stand on the shoulders of giants. With our strong history supporting us, there is nothing we cannot accomplish together.
You belong at the CBA. And I hope to see you here.
Adam Gross
Alana Shockey
Amya Grant
Ana Hernandez
Antionette Goff
Beverly Motley
Christina Wolf
Craig Denmead
Cynthia Jones
Dante Harrison
DeAnna Barnett
Desiree Blankenship
Duncan Copeland
Emma Timan
Erick McNeal
Gamal Hussein
Gilbert Gradisar
Griffen Hess
Jacob Biscan
Jason Allen
Jason Whitehead
Jesse Wilde
Joseph Schick
Julie Hall
Kailash Mishra
Kenneth Sheppard
Kerianne Bowshier
Kristen Martin
Kyra Fleming
Lauren Hollewa
Lauren Kerr
Lindsay Webster
Lori Mitchell
Lovely Smith
Matthew Boling
Matthew DiBartola
Matthew Wright
Megan Bosak
Michael Bennett IV
Michael Jones
Michelle Taub
Nicole Cordero
Quincy Miller
R. Scott Heasley
Rachel Caldwell
Richard Rogovin
Riella Batista Costa
Russell Gertmenian
Samantha Albright
Teresa Villarreal
Thomas Wood
Thurston Burt
Vincent Wells
Zoe Dawson
GeorgeJ.Arnold
BelindaS.Barnes
GeraldT.Baynes
JoanneS.Beasy
DavidS.BloomfieldJr.
SheilaWillamowskiBoehner
ThomasJ.Bonasera
SandraE.Booth
JamesH.Bownas
WilliamJ.Browning
StephenR.Buchenroth
BruceH.Burkholder
WilliamL.ByersIV
JoelR.Campbell
JamesC.Carpenter
W.JeffreyCecil
MarkC.Collins
RichardS.Donahey
AnyaLightDuVivier
RobertD.Erney
HenryL.Fein
JohnC.Fergus
StephenC.Fitch
RussellN.Flickinger
RonaldA.Fresco
ScottN.Friedman
PrestonJ.Garvin
NelsonE.Genshaft
PeterJohnGeorgiton
JackG.Gibbs
PaulGiorgianni
DavidA.Goldstein
JamesH.Gordon
DanielRobertGurtner
AllenL.Handlan
MarkHatcher
BarronK.Henley
MichaelJ.Hickey
DouglasE.Hoover
JohnW.Hoppers
CynthiaEllisHvizdos
RichardB.Igo
FrederickM.Isaac
VickiL.Jenkins
JohnS.Jones
MichaelS.Jordan
GlennonJ.Karr
RebeccaC.Kells
RussellA.Kelm
RobertW.Kerpsack
RussellW.Kessler
AllenS.Kinzer
KennethR.Kline
JenniferChristinaLee
RichardL.Levine
ScottT.Lindsey
DavidK.Lowe
MichaelD.Martz
TimothyJ.McGrath
SamanthaMeng
WalterW.Messenger
DavidP.Meyer
RichardF.Meyer
BonnieD.Michael AdamC.Miller
ScottR.Mote
StephenA.Moyer
JohnC.Nemeth
WilliamA.Nolan
ChristopherO'Shaughnessy
ThomasP.Pannett
DavidC.Patterson
SamuelA.Peppers
WilliamG.Porter
CharlesC.Postlewaite
GaryPaulPrice
FrankA.Ray
SusanD.Rector
MarkR.Reitz
JamesEvansRobertsJr.
RonaldL.Rowland
PhilipP.Ryser
MichaelD.Saad
ZacharySchiff
CharlesA.Schneider
RichardW.Schuermann
DavidM.Scott
PhilipH.Sheridan
KimberlyCalleryShumate
JessicaSkelly
CarlD.Smallwood
FredricL.Smith
JustinSolze
MichaelL.Squillace
A.C.Strip
RobinL.Strohm
IraB.Sully
ThomasM.Taggart
AracelyTagliaventi
J.TroyTerakedis
DavidH.Thomas
CharlesE.Ticknor
MelanieR.Tobias-Hunter
StevenJ.Umaña
WilliamJohnWahoff
ThomasH.Wallace
CharlesC.Warner
GeoffreyE.Webster
ScottN.Whitlock
BradleyB.Wrightsel
BenjaminL.Zox
By CeCe Harris
The Columbus Bar Foundation is proud to celebrate an incredible milestone: 75 years of service to the Central Ohio legal community and beyond.
ReflectingonOurJourney
The Columbus Bar Foundation promotes legal education, access to justice, and community impact through grants and philanthropy.
We are deeply grateful for the generous contributions of our donors. Their donations funded CBF grants to local agencies that helped expand access to justice and provided law-related education, vital scholarships, and fellowships.
Hundreds of local families’ lives were made better because of our donor’s commitment to the CBF.
Their generosity has emboldened us to increase our fundraising efforts with the goal of doubling this impact in 2025. We are thrilled about the opportunity to expand our support even further.
We are proud to continue support for organizations making a real impact in our community. Recent grants have been awarded to Columbus Mediation Services and the League of Women Voters, both of which align with our mission to strengthen the legal system and promote civic engagement.
To celebrate 75 years of service, we started our anniversary festivities on May 15th with a special evening of creativity and community at the Wicks & Wine Fundraiser at Worthington Candle Works. From signature candle-making to sipping delicious wines and connecting with amazing colleagues, the kickoff celebration of the Columbus Bar Foundation's 75th Anniversary was a perfect blend of creativity, camaraderie, and fun — all in support of our mission to promote access to justice through charitable giving.
Looking ahead, we invite you to save the date for our Annual Meeting and 50Year Celebration Breakfast happening on October 7th at Strongwater. It will be a meaningful morning of reflection, recognition, and recommitment to the future of our legal community.
Follow us on social media to stay updated on all the fun and exciting events planned to commemorate our 75th anniversary. Our newly designed website also makes it easier to stay connected and informed. You’ll find details on upcoming events, updates to our grant application and reporting process, and other important resources. Whether you're a past grant recipient, a potential applicant, or a friend of the Foundation, we encourage you to explore the Foundation’s website.
There’s more to come, and we’re thrilled to have you with us as we celebrate the past, present, and future of the Columbus Bar Foundation’s promotion of legal education, access to justice, and community impact through grants and philanthropy.
Here’s to 75 years and many more to come!
Dr. CeCe Harris, Development Director Columbus Bar Foundation cece@cbalaw.org
Integrity in the performance of public service is integral to the proper function of Government. For that integrity to play out, those who perform public service must put the public’s interests ahead of their own. The Watergate scandal of the 1970s led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation, and in
large measure because of that scandal, Ohio enacted a comprehensive ethics law that created the Ohio Ethics Commission and a set of ethical standards that apply to state and local public officials and public employees (referred to as officials and employees in this article).
The law’s core purpose is to promote public confidence in government operations. Having dealt with many commission investigations, the purpose of this article is to assist the reader’s understanding of the law and the agency that enforces those laws. Proper enforcement of the law hopes to deter wrongdoing by those who serve the public. In a nutshell, the law:
Creates the Ohio Ethics Commission.
Prohibits conflicts of interest.
Sets stringent standards for post-employment representation before the agency with whom the official or employee had
been previously employed. Requires confidentiality to be maintained after employment. Forbids obtaining interests in public contracts. Disallows receiving compensation from any source other than the official’s or employee’s agency. Requires written financial disclosures.
The Ohio Ethics Commission is comprised of six members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Ohio Senate. Since the ethics law contains criminal prohibitions, the Commission has the power
to refer matters for criminal prosecution. Until concluded, the Commission’s investigations are confidential. Most violations are first-degree misdemeanors although several carry felony penalties. Acceptance of things of value that could improperly influence an official or employee can be the basis for bringing bribery charges under another section of the Ohio Revised Code. The Commission has discretionary authority to enter into settlement agreements with those it has investigated.
official or employee. The prohibition covers gifts or other things of value by anyone who is doing business with the official’s or employee’s agency, who is regulated by the agency, or who is interested in matters before the agency. Gifts, travel expenses, substantial meals, or event tickets are often the subject of Commission investigations. While diminutive things of value (those that are notably small) are not apt to improperly influence the official or employee, it is still wise for the official or employee to err on the side of caution. However, diminutive things of value can accumulate from the same source, and in such cases their aggregation is deemed by the Commission to be of such value to improperly influence one who serves the public. That might
Public officials and employees are prohibited from soliciting or accepting gifts or other things of value that might have a substantial and improper influence on the
include a government vendor who routinely treats agency staff with catered lunches during monthly scheduled meetings or hosts a quarterly social hour for agency personnel with food and beverages. The law also prohibits the official or employee from using his or her public position to get a benefit for (or avoid a detriment to) the official or employee or that person’s family members or business associates.
participated in the matter while at the agency. This is referred to as Ohio’s Revolving Door statute.
Other provisions of the law preclude former public officials and employees from representing persons or businesses in matters before the agency when that official or employee had personally
The preclusion applies for one year after the official’s or employee’s departure. There are certain categories of public officials and employees where a two-year prohibition is imposed.
This area of the law also creates an obligation on the official or employee to maintain confidential information obtained during employment with the agency. This prohibition applies to officials and employees who had access to such confidential information during his or her employment. The obligation to maintain such information can be waived by the agency.
Public Contracts: The law also criminalizes obtaining unlawful interests in public contracts. Such instances occur when an official or employee has an interest in a vendor of goods or services and the agency transacts with such vendor. This provision extends to family members and business associates. For good reason, public officials and employees are prohibited from profiting from public contracts. The exception here is for goods or services that were competitively bid.
Sources: The law prohibits officials and employees who are required to make financial disclosures from receiving supplemental compensation over and above compensation from that official’s or employee’s agency. This would include honorariums or other things of value.
Financial Disclosures: Finally, and depending on the category, certain public officials and employees are required to file annual financial disclosures with the Commission.
Ohio's ethics law serves as a crucial framework for promoting public confidence in government operations. Again, it’s integral to the proper function of government, be it national, state, or local government. Ohio’s law aims to prevent conflicts of interest, ensure transparency through financial disclosures, and maintain the integrity of state and local public service. Understanding and adhering to these ethical guidelines is essential for fostering a trustworthy and accountable government.
Karl H. Schneider
By Michael J. Hunter
Imagine going into the finest, most elegant restaurant in the city and ordering the lobster bisque. When the bisque is brought out to your table, a dapper waiter or waitress delivers it in an ornate covered dish, made from the finest China, with gorgeous floral patterns, and a gold handle on the lid. When the covered dish is sat down on the beautifully decorated table, you open it, and inside you find about two ounces of bisque that tastes like dirty dishwater. This is very unlikely to be a great dining experience because everyone knows that a meal can’t really be a great meal based only upon the presentation and service: The food actually has to be good.
This same rationale applies to proving your case before a jury: Your opening statement may be gorgeous and floral, and your closing argument delivered with ornate detail and a gold handle for the jury to grab as they look inside your case, but what is most important is the substance of your case: The meal that the jury has to consume to find proof of your case. That meal is created through the direct examination of the witnesses you call to the stand and the evidence you admit to prove your case. Said another way, while your opening statement may be a beautiful box and your closing argument gorgeous wrapping paper and a bow, the proof of your case is what you put into that box either a set of windup, chattering teeth or an exquisite piece of jewelry and that proof is put on for a jury through the direct examination of witnesses.
While the ability of any lawyer to develop testimony and admit evidence through witnesses is a
critical skill — I would argue it is the most critical skill in being a trial lawyer — the question of how to effectively “do” direct examination seems to get less attention than the romance of delivering a powerful opening statement or a cinematic closing argument. But, when it comes to actually proving your case, both a great opening statement and a great closing argument pale in comparison to an effective direct examination. After all, an opening statement is just that: a statement. It isn’t even argument, much less evidence in the case, and it is often unwise to give too much detail in an opening statement. Similarly, while there’s no doubt that an effective closing argument can be important, what are you doing in a closing argument if not harkening the jury back to the evidence you put on through your witnesses and telling the jury what inferences they should draw from the testimony you elicited and the evidence you introduced that proves your case? Direct examination is straightforwardly how a trial lawyer puts the meat on the bones of their case.
So how do you “do” direct examination effectively? Mostly the same way you become good at anything as an attorney: practice and preparing your witnesses. But during my almost eighteen years as a federal prosecutor, I had the good fortune to receive excellent training from incredibly experienced trial attorneys around the country, and I got to see some of the best trial attorneys in Columbus in action, on both the prosecution and defense sides of a trial. From that vantage point, I have borrowed liberally from almost all of them to add some of their best techniques to my bag of tricks because, after all, the sincerest form of flattery isn’t imitation; it’s plagiarism. What I’ve learned and tried to put into practice in my own trial and hearing work is that employing a few simple techniques and utilizing
the rules of evidence to their fullest extent can turn a good direct examination into a great one.
TheBasics:
To begin, the mechanics of direct examination are straightforward enough: You ask a witness nonleading questions to elicit their testimony. Both the Federal and Ohio Rule of Evidence 611(c) direct that leading questions should not be used on the direct examination of a witness. To avoid non-leading questions, and the ire of the judge (Columbus U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley is near-legendary for his lack of patience with leading questions by attorneys), it is good practice to simply excise certain phrases from your direct examination vocabulary:
“You were upset, weren’tyou?”
“You saw him flee the scene, didn'tyou?”
“Isn’tittrue. . . ?”
“It was four o’clock, wasn’tit?”
“You went to the residence, right?”
“How did you feel?”
“Did you see anyone flee the scene?”
“Would it be correct to say . . . ?”
“Do you recall what time it was?”
“Where did you go?”
Anyone discussing direct examination 101 would tell a new attorney to avoid asking leading questions by following a good rule of thumb: Ask questions that begin with “Who,” “What,” “Why,”
“Where,” “When,” or “How.” Questions phrased with those terms will generally keep you out of the crosshairs of objections for leading a witness.[1]
Over the years, I’ve picked up a few rhetorical devices from others that have served me well as I’ve incorporated them into my direct examinations:
“Tell the jury what happened next.”
“Tell me about that.”
“Explain (why you did that) (what was the significance) (how you know Mr. Smith)?”
“Was that significant to you? Why?”
“Describe what you (saw) (heard) (found)?”
“Do you recall (what you saw) (what was going through your mind) (who else was there)?”
Once you’ve become proficient in the basics of conducting direct examination by non-leading questions, you’re ready to incorporate other techniques that tend to help drive home your witnesses’ testimony with juries or fact finders. “Looping” is one such technique, in which the direct examiner adds a portion of a previous answer to a question. It has two primary purposes: It helps tie a narrative together, and it can help to underline and highlight helpful testimony. As an example,
consider eliciting the testimony of a victim of an assault, and using looping to highlight your best facts that prove the elements of an offense or claim:
What happened next?
The defendant hit me in the face with his fist.
After the defendant hit you in the face with his fist, what happened next?
I fell to the ground.
After the defendant hit you and you fell to the ground, what went through your mind?
I was afraid the defendant was going to hit me again.
Why were you afraid that the defendant was going to hit you again?
He was standing over me with his fists clenched.
By using the technique of looping the most salient facts of the previous answer — that the defendant hit the victim into each question, you’re using your questioning and not just your witness’s testimony to emphasize those critical facts for the jury through that repetition. Similarly, use the technique of looping in your transitions to the next area of questioning. For example, in the direct examination of the victim in the case above, consider a transition like this:
“Now that we’ve talked about the night that the defendant hit you in the face, I want to talk about what happened afterwards.”
“We’ve focused on the defendant hitting you in the face and you reporting it to the police; I now want to focus you on any injuries you suffered.”
“You’ve answered my questions about the injuries you suffered when the defendant hit you in the face; I now want to focus on any financial consequences you may have suffered from your injuries.”
It should be clear this technique can help to emphasize the key points and strengthen the narrative of the witness’ testimony while keeping the witness engaged and shaping the questioning as more conversational rather than scripted. It is important to note that while looping can be effective, it obviously should be used strategically and not overused to the point of it being distracting.
Another slightly more advanced technique that can establish a rhythm with your witness and efficiently elicit more fulsome testimony is structuring your questioning from a specific to a general conclusion, whether in a hearing or before a jury. For example, consider a case where a police officer has elicited a confession, and you’re at a hearing on suppressing that confession as involuntarily obtained. The general conclusion that you’d want to elicit from the officer is that no force was used against the defendant as to overbear their will. Use specific questions to get to that general conclusion:
Officer did you handcuff the defendant?
No, I didn’t.
Did you physically restrain him?
No, I did not.
Did you stand over him?
No, I was seated across from him.
Did you threaten him?
No, I did not.
Did you raise your voice at him?
No, it was a normal conversational tone.
Did you point a weapon at him?
No, my weapon was in my holster.
Officer, did you use any force at all against the defendant during the interview?
No, I just asked him questions about the assault.
In that direct examination, you’re using specific questions — in this case about the type of facts that have at times been found by courts to overcome a witness’s will and as a result invalidated a confession — to reach the general conclusion that no improper force was used.
Each specific question supports and leads to an ending with the general conclusion and allows the direct examiner to systematically mine that subject for all the evidence it’s worth. The technique also avoids any objection for “asked and answered” or “repetitive” as each new question hits at a slightly different angle of the witness’s testimony.
Once you’re at the point of having mastered the general mechanics of direct examination — incorporating additional techniques such as looping, transitions, and specific to general questioning, along with being comfortable and conversant in a few of the major exceptions to non-leading questions that frequently occur (like leading questions to develop testimony, refreshing a witness’s prior recollection, prior recollection recorded, etc.) — you’ll find yourself well prepared to do a great direct examination. But to truly take your direct examination of Taking Your Direct Examination to theNextLevel:
witnesses to the next level — whether at a hearing to a judge or a trial before a jury — it’s necessary to become proficient at using the Rules of Evidence as they relate to the admissibility of opinion testimony through your witnesses.
In my experience too many practitioners—even very experienced practitioners leave a lot of great testimony on the cutting room floor by not pressing for opinion testimony from a witness that can be compelling in assisting the jury or factfinder in determining critical facts in a case. Both the Federal and Ohio Rule of Evidence 602 are clear: A witness may testify to a matter if evidence is introduced sufficiently to establish that the witness has personal knowledge of the matter. That testimony can absolutely encompass that witness’sopinion about the events LayWitnessOpinionTestimony:
they witnessed or have personal knowledge of.
Both the Federal and Ohio Rule of Evidence 701 also expressly provide that opinion testimony by a lay witness is admissible as long as it is rationally based on the witness’s own perception and the testimony is helpful to a jury to understand the witness’s testimony or determine a fact in issue.[2] In many contexts, this is intuitive. For example, in a criminal trial, a witness could testify about the appearance of an individual’s state of intoxication at the scene of a traffic accident. In a personal injury case, a driver of an automobile could offer their opinion as to the visibility or weather conditions at the time of the accident. In a business dispute, a business owner might offer an opinion as to why a particular business practice was favored or disfavored.
Those basic examples aside, to put the rules of evidence to work for you in your direct examinations, prepare your witnesses to not only talk about the “Who,” “What,” “Why,” “Where,” “When,” and “How”
of the events they are testifying about but also to incorporate their opinion into their testimony, where appropriate, as to what they perceived as the events were happening and the inferences they drew from those events.
For example, consider a police officer testifying that a confidential informant, Mr. Jones, (who will testify later) provided him accurate information identifying a particular residence as a drug house and, therefore, lead to the informant working with the officer on future cases. There is compelling evidence that can be developed from the inferences the officer drew from the confidential informant that can have a real impact on the jury:
Did Jones identify any residence as a drug house?
Yes, 123 West Avenue.
What did you do in response to getting this information from Jones?
I set up surveillance on 123 West Avenue.
What did you see?
I saw approximately 10 individuals per hour walk up to the house, knock on the door, someone come to the door, and then a hand-to-hand exchange was conducted, with the person leaving the porch in less than a minute.
What inferences did you draw from that activity?
In my training and experience it was consistent with a possible drug house.
Was there any additional significance to what you saw?
Yes, it gave Jones credibility with me.
What do you mean?
Jones identified 123 West Avenue as a drug house, and then my surveillance confirmed that it appeared to be. That corroborated what Jones had told me.
Did that have any impact on your decision as to whether to continue to work with Jones?
Yes, as a result of me corroborating the information he gave me about 123 West Avenue, I signed Jones up as a confidential informant to continue working with him.
In this short example, the officer is providing testimony rationally based on his own perception to help the jury understand how he corroborated Jones’s statements to him. It also shows the effect it had on the officer: It caused him to decide to work with Jones on future cases, which will not only set up the officer’s testimony about future events with Jones but also establish who Jones is with the jury before he testifies. Such testimony is perfectly admissible under Rules 602 and 701 and extracting this kind of insight from your witness will take your direct examination to the next level.
In life, a good meal and a great gift are luxuries. As a litigator, an effective presentation before a
court or a jury is essential to vindicating your client’s interests when the stakes are at their highest: in a court hearing or trial. Becoming conversant and effective with the techniques and rules of evidence related to direct examination will set you apart from your peers and make you a more confident and capable trial lawyer.
[1] It is also important to note that both the Federal Rule and Ohio Rule of Evidence 611(c) carve out an exception for leading questions on direct examination “as may be necessary to develop the witness’[s] testimony.” It is best practice to raise the issue with the court prior to the line of questioning if you know a few leading questions may be necessary to establish a few basic facts to develop an area of a witness’s testimony.
[2] See Harris v. J.B. Robinson Jewelers, 627 F.3d 235, 240 (6th Cir. 2010) (explaining that in applying Fed. R. Evid. 701, the modern trend among courts favors the admission of opinion testimony, provided that it is well founded on personal knowledge and susceptible to specific cross-examination). Like any witness, a government agent may testify in the form of a lay opinion if the opinion meets the requirements of Federal Rule of Evidence 701. See United States v. Graham, 856 F.2d 756, 759 (6th Cir. 1988).
Michael J. Hunter, Partner
ByGarthW.Rowbotham
This article was written for both defense and prosecution attorneys to present a personal account of the two times I was impaneled on a jury. Both criminal cases in which I served involved a culture of violence and, in my opinion, were caused
by unbridled anger. My most recent jury experience was the trial of Jonathan L. Woodruff (21 CR 4016) this past January. I will then give an account of my jury experience in the Levander R. Davis trial in December 2011 (11 CR 2313).[1]
As the temperature hovered just above 0 degrees on an early morning this past January, I quickly headed to the Franklin County Common Pleas Courthouse. This was a holiday week, so our jury service didn’t start until Tuesday. Despite my reluctance to arise very early following Ohio State’s National Championship victory, I managed to make sure the car was warm by using an external heat source, ensure that it started the next morning, and arrive at the courthouse on time. Not being alone in this matter, I later found out that other jurors
and court personnel shared the same reluctance about this particular morning, so who wasn’t hoping for a snow day? This was my second enthralling jury service in 13 years and in my lifetime.
Jonathan L. Woodruff had previously been acquitted of a murder charge (21 CR 002720) for a shooting that occurred on June 30, 2021, at a west-side gas station. This was just 10 days after shooting and wounding an individual from Kenya, the victim in my case (21 CR 004016), at the Wedgewood Village Apartments on June 20, 2021. The victim’s family attended the trial. We did not know who they were or why they appeared upset. Having served as a juror for two cases, I
understand more than ever the importance of Ohio law as it relates to not knowing about the defendant’s priors, and thus, why judges repeatedly admonished us not to discuss, and above all not to research, the defendant or any part of the case. I took note of the fact that the defendant had a permit to carry and conceal a firearm, and statistics show that individuals who have those permits are overwhelmingly law-abiding citizens. Nevertheless, I remember that he reportedly “ditched” his firearm in a trashcan near the courthouse before entering.
There was another alleged concurrent shooting nearby at the time the defendant shot at the victim’s car at least 15 times. This was part of Mr. Woodruff’s claim of self defense; however, the prosecution emphasized the fact that the shell casings were in the street in front of the apartment complex while the
I view myself as “tough on crime,” but I listened to both sides, as we have all heard of cases where the jury and prosecutors got it wrong. I previously heard former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro speak at a CLE class about the Innocence Project and some of their cases. I left that class shocked and amazed about how blatant misconduct or incompetence had led to innocent people serving time. Mr. Woodruff’s defense attorney Fredrick Benton explained the defendant and the unarmed victim’s interaction took place in the back of the complex.
difference between direct and indirect evidence, stressed the importance of listening to the whole case, and encouraged not coming to conclusions prematurely. Despite the overwhelming evidence against Mr. Woodruff, he fought intensely and objected to many of the prosecution’s statements. We didn’t really mind the breaks, though, having to leave the court room or talk among ourselves during the many sidebars from defense objections.
cornering the defendant during cross examination regarding the location of the shell casings.
That said, David Zeyen appeared to be an experienced prosecutor who did his homework: calmly but sternly
Shortly after returning to the jury room for deliberation on this case, a foreman volunteered and quickly asked for a vote. Immediately, everyone raised their hands in favor of “guilty” of Felonious Assault with Firearm Specifications. Before signing the papers to document our guilty vote, we felt an obligation to at least discuss the major points of the case. While another juror and I had noticed a Bible sitting on the desk of the defense, we could not understand why placing a Bible on the desk was a defense strategy in this particular case,
since the defendant had posted on Facebook repugnant racial slurs against the victim because he was from Kenya. We examined the firearm, which I understand usually is not brought into the jury room these days. The shell casings (at least 15) appeared damaged due to them being in the road for a period of time. Although the incident occurred in the late afternoon, it appeared that the police photos of the shell casings in the road were taken at dusk on that June evening. That said, none of us had any doubt about our decision. Virtually all my fellow jurors had professional careers, such as engineering, IT, and teaching. One person was from Ghana and another from Nigeria.
After the verdict was announced on Friday, January 24, Judge Holbrook came back to the jury room, talked with us, and answered questions for about 40 minutes. Yes, everyone, including myself, had many questions and didn’t want to leave. That should settle any questions about the community being uninterested in our justice system. Judge Holbrook discussed some of his notable cases throughout his career, including the Dr. Husel case and getting Court TV admission to the trial. I asked why there was no court reporter present, and he said they were “working on it.” He also said that only a very small percentage of his trials are civil cases.
Both cases involved multiple shots, but the Levander Davis case involved more than 40 shots fired inside a west side bar. The Columbus Dispatch described the March 7, 2011, incident as “a torrent of gunfire.”[2] Surely it was one of the top mass shootings in Columbus history, with one person killed and four others shot. It also made national news.
There are vivid memories that left an indelible mark in my mind: “DeAndre,” a member of Davis’s gang the “Crips,” holding up his shirt showing where he was shot many times by Davis and the description of the victim, Tracy Ferguson, gasping for air after being shot in the throat. All because of an argument with his fellow gang member.
occurred, all the chairs, tables, and cups were situated as they were the night of the shooting nine months prior. The absence of heat inside caused the December cold to freeze the pipes, leaving water trickling from the ceiling. We were shown where the gang members had hidden their firearms in the ceiling and walls.
When the jury made a trip in December 2011 to the defunct Mike’s Lounge where the murder
Thankfully, we were permitted to take notes, which filled an entire reporter’s steno during the trial, as countless law enforcement officers, detectives, and expert witnesses testified. One officer that testified had been parked across the street, seeming to wait for something to happen. He described the blood, mayhem, and smoke so thick from the gunfire that visibility was limited inside the bar.
This whole case was indeed surreal. When the verdict was read and the jury polled, I counted eight deputies near Davis. The 6’6” juror beside me later stated that he was shaking during the tense moments leading up to our guilty verdict. I had a lot of respect for Davis’s attorney, Christopher Cooper, because he wanted to learn what our deciding factor was in our verdict. We all agreed the deciding factor was the defendant’s DNA on the magazine he threw to the ground.
Schneider from his CLEs and presentations to the Paralegal Association of Central Ohio, of which I am a member. As a juror, I had a lot of respect for his professional conduct and knowledge of the law.
The defendants in both trials appeared less guilty at the beginning of and during the trial than after the respective verdicts when we discovered their pasts. Their violent pasts confirmed and solidified the fact that we made the correct decisions, and more importantly, we probably saved several lives by getting them off the street.
Regarding the Levander R. Davis case, I had the same question as Judge Schneider: Why didn’t anyone take action a long time ago when we could see this coming?[3] I knew Judge
I know one person who does not vote to avoid being summoned for jury service. What a shame it is that people avoid their civic duty, twice! I told him that it is not only an honor to serve, but it is actually enjoyable. What is concerning is that there are probably many more people like him.
I conclude by encouraging citizens to serve when summoned, if at all possible. Once you get there, and if you are seated, I think the experience will be enjoyable and fulfilling. You are not only treated respectfully but also “courted” by all sides. You are given a sense of purpose, highly valued, and appreciated by the jury commission, judge, defense, and prosecution (special thanks to Managers Vanita, Melanie, and Gretchen for their patience and courtesy when dealing with us). Judge Holbrook and Bailiff David Petikas complemented us several times and thanked us for our dedication to serving.
Since July is Juror Appreciation Month in several jurisdictions, I leave you with one of Abraham Lincoln’s most memorable statements: “The greatest service of citizenship is jury duty.”[4]
1 Around 2003, I received a jury summons to serve in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court concerning a death penalty case. Although I wanted to be impaneled on a jury for the first time in my life, I did not get seated or called for that summons. Since everything is online now, the questionnaire for the voir dire process is a lot cleaner. The “one time deferment” that is available now is also a great idea.
2. John Futty, Man Convicted of Murder in Torrent of Gunfire at Bar, Columbus Dispatch (Dec 21, 2011), available at https://www dispatch com/story/news/crime/ 2011/12/21/man-convicted-murder-intorrent/24108196007
3 Man Described as “Deadly Weapon” to Spend Life in Prison, 10tv com (Jan 18, 2012), https://www.10tv.com/article/news/mandescribed-deadly-weapon-spend-lifeprison/530-13fc61a4-3d3d-402f-93375277d99a324d.
4. See Daniel M. Crowley, Preserve the Right to a Jury Trial by Maximizing Juror Satisfaction, Advocate Magazine (Feb. 2024), https://www.advocatemagazine.com/article/2 024-february/preserve-the-right-to-a-jurytrial-by-maximizing-juror-satisfaction.
By Kyle Davidson
Last summer, I got my dream job as an attorney at the Columbus law firm of Isaac Wiles. I knew this would be a tricky transition, going from an in-house compliance analyst responsible for ensuring health plan compliance with statebased exchange rules to a lawyer focused on litigation and insurance industry matters.
To guide me, I relied on a few key strategies that helped smooth the transition and get my private practice career off to a fast start. The following five tips may be helpful to others who find themselves in the same career transition:
Understand your clientele and audience: One of the biggest differences between working inhouse and in private practice is who you work for and who your clientele is. Working in-house, your client is the corporation you work for. At a private firm, you work for the individual client or partner and their specific needs. When making the transition to private practice, it is crucial to understand that each client or partner you represent has a unique set of needs, and your representation of them must be individualized. You need to be able to tailor your representation towards your clients’ or partner’s needs. Be cognizant of the time you are dedicating to specific clients, as they may have different time and monetary expectations.
Build your network: When you are in-house, you are not expected to bring in clients and business to the corporation; however, in private practice, you will eventually be expected to develop business to be profitable to your firm. To build a potential client base and business for your firm, you must network. This can look different for everyone, but, at its core, you need to tell others what you and your firm do. Even if you do not personally work in a specific law practice that someone needs or is interested in using, someone from your firm may. So, connect your firm with that person to be credited with bringing in the business.
Be present and put yourself out there for work: When first transitioning to private practice, you will need to build rapport with your colleagues. To build this rapport, you need to be seen and be available to partners, other attorneys, etc. One of the best ways to be seen as available is to be physically present and seen by those who can give you work. If you work in an office, walk around and give face time, knock on doors, and let others know you are available to work. If you work remotely, email and call colleagues to let them know you are available to work. You want to be the first person someone thinks of when they have work to give. It is always better to be a little too busy than to not have work, as you need to be profitable in private practice.
Have an idea of what you want your practice to eventually look like: When moving into private practice, the goal is typically to become a partner at your firm and establish your own practice there. Start thinking about an area of law or niche you can establish within your firm. It could be advantageous to look into an area of law your firm does not currently practice, as this could be a new business opportunity for your firm. Begin working towards establishing that practice area through continuing education opportunities, receiving certifications, etc. You can also begin establishing a client base for this specific area of law through networking.
Be confident and smart: As an attorney at a private firm, you need to be confident in the work you are doing. However, you also must be smart in that work. Smart in the time you are allocating to a client. Smart in the research you are doing for a client. Smart in the opinions you are giving and using in front of the courts. Confidence can get you far, but the arguments
you are making and opinions you are giving must be based in law and educated. Another aspect of being smart is staying organized. You will be busy juggling multiple clients and cases at the same time. Stay on top of case schedules and client requests, ask for assistance, and delegate when necessary to be the best for your clients and be a positive reflection of your firm.
By Joshua Cartee
“All the world’s a stage,” wrote William Shakespeare. For some actors, including CBA member Trenton Weaver, you could also say: “It runs in the family.”
Trenton met his wife, Aileen, at an audition while both were actors based out of New York City. After getting tired of “living out of a suitcase,” the couple decided to return home to Central Ohio, where Trenton attended law school at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Aileen, meanwhile, got a job directing theatre, eventually settling at Gahanna Lincoln High School after the longtime theatre director retired. The retiring theatre director? Trenton’s former drama teacher.
By day, Trenton works in the Franklin County Auditor’s Office as the Director of the Licensing and Weights and Measures Sections. Other roles at the Auditor’s Office have included Deputy General Counsel and Open Government Officer. Prior to the Auditor’s Office, Trenton worked for the Ohio Legislative Inspector General, Columbus City Council, and
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty in her Columbus Office. Since 2021, Trenton has also served in public office himself, as an elected city council member on the Gahanna City Council.
Theatre has always been an important part of Trenton’s life. His passion for the stage began in middle school, when he got his “big break” in an 8th grade production of South Pacific, and continued through high school, college, and beyond. Trenton attended Otterbein University for musical theatre, graduating with a B.F.A. in 2012. In college, Tr appeared in productions such a Can’t Take It with You, Bab Arms, and One Flew Over Cuckoo’s Nest. After gradu Trenton acted professionall regional productions in Nan and New York and toured acro country. Trenton has even app onscreen in Europe for a D reality television show, Alt Danmark, where he put anothe of his talents on display: spe fluent Danish. (His mother was in Denmark.)
Today, Trenton still finds time to act in local productions. He has recently performed onstage with the Gallery Players in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Fiddler on the Roof, and Newsies. Trenton has also performed with the Actor’s Theatre of Columbus in Pride and Prejudice outdoors at the Schiller Park Amphitheater in German Village. For the Schiller Park performance, Trenton says he has a slight preference for acting indoors to outdoors because wearing a “black suit in the middle of summer” outside has its challenges. On two occasions, Trenton’s legal and acting worlds collided when he played a lawyer onscreen for training videos used by an international law firm.
Although still passionate about theatre, Trenton says he will likely take a little break from acting for one exciting reason: he and Aileen welcomed their first child, Otto, into the world on May 30, 2025. Will Otto follow in the family footsteps and onto the stage as well? Only time will tell. But, with parents like Trenton and Aileen, there should be no shortage of opportunities.
By Scott R. Mote
At the Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program (OLAP), we frequently receive calls from lawyers, judges, professors, law students, law office staff, and others who are concerned about a colleague. They start recognizing that their colleagues are missing deadlines, withdrawing from social interactions, and showing signs of physical exhaustion. It becomes clear to them that these colleagues are likely battling a mental health or substance use disorder (SUD), and they reach out to OLAP for guidance.
We all know that the legal profession is one of the most demanding career paths, often characterized by long hours, high stress, and immense pressure to succeed. While these challenges can foster professional growth, they can also take a toll on mental health and increase the risk of SUD.
culture. Beyond individual well-being, these efforts strengthen the overall legal profession by promoting a culture of accountability, reducing turnover, and enhancing team performance.
It's important for all of us in the profession to understand substance use disorder, recognize the signs and symptoms, and learn how to help a colleague in need.
By calling OLAP, the concerned colleagues are taking a step in the right direction to help the person in distress. Recognizing the early warning signs of substance use disorder and understanding how to support colleagues in need is critical to fostering a healthy workplace
Substance use disorders often develop as a response to chronic stress, trauma, or unmanageable workloads. The legal profession’s competitive nature can exacerbate these risks, leading some lawyers to turn to alcohol or drugs as coping mechanisms. The stigma surrounding addiction, combined with fears of professional consequences, often prevents individuals from seeking help, making early recognition and intervention even more essential.
Warning Signs
Substance use disorders rarely emerge overnight. Instead, they often manifest gradually through changes in behavior, appearance, and performance. While the following signs don’t always indicate addiction, they warrant concern and further observation:
Behavioral Changes:
Erratic behavior: Sudden mood swings, irritability, or unexplained anger.
Social withdrawal: Avoiding colleagues, skipping social events, or isolating themselves in the workplace.
Increased risk-taking: Reckless decision-making, such as missing deadlines or ignoring ethical guidelines.
Physical Signs:
Changes in appearance: Neglecting personal hygiene, appearing disheveled, or showing signs of fatigue.
Frequent illness: Repeatedly calling in sick or appearing physically unwell.
Subtle physical indicators: Bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, or unsteady movements.
Performance Issues:
Declining work quality: Missing deadlines, producing subpar work, or making frequent mistakes. Inconsistent attendance: Frequent tardiness, unexplained absences, or disappearing during the workday.
Over-reliance on excuses: Constantly justifying poor performance or blaming external factors.
Approaching a colleague you suspect may be struggling with addiction requires tact, empathy, and discretion. The goal is to express concern without judgment and encourage them to seek help.
Initiate the conversation in a private, neutral setting where both parties can speak openly without fear of being overheard. Avoid bringing up the issue during stressful moments or in front of others.
Use nonjudgmental language to express your observations. For example:
“I’ve noticed you’ve seemed stressed lately and wanted to check in. Is everything okay?”
“You’ve been missing a lot of deadlines, which isn’t like you. I’m worried about you.”
Avoid accusatory statements like “You’re clearly addicted” or “You’re not pulling your weight,” which may cause defensiveness.
Allow your colleague to share their perspective. Practice active listening by maintaining eye contact, nodding, and avoiding interruptions. Show empathy by acknowledging their feelings and offering reassurance.
Gently suggest resources such as OLAP, mental health counselors, or SUD specialists. Frame the suggestion as an opportunity for support rather than a punitive measure.
If your colleague is receptive, check in periodically to offer continued support. If they’re resistant, remain patient and remind them that help is available when they’re ready.
Once a colleague acknowledges their struggles and seeks help, your role as a supportive ally becomes even more critical. Recovery is a long-term process, and having a compassionate workplace environment can make a significant difference.
Confidentiality is paramount. Avoid discussing their situation with others unless explicitly permitted by the colleague. Recovery may require time off for treatment or adjustments to workloads. Work with leadership to accommodate these needs without penalizing the individual.
Recognize and celebrate milestones in their recovery journey. Positive reinforcement can boost their confidence and encourage sustained efforts.
Advocate for workplace initiatives that prioritize mental health and well-being, such as
While individual support is essential, systemic changes are equally important in addressing addiction within the legal profession. Here are some steps that judges, law firms, and organizations can take: stress-management workshops or access to counseling services. Reduce stigma through education: Conduct workshops or seminars to educate staff about addiction as a medical condition rather than a moral failing. Normalize conversations about mental health and substance use disorders.
Adopt policies that support well-being: Introduce policies that prioritize work-life balance, such as reasonable billing expectations, flexible schedules, and mandatory vacation days.
Establish a culture of accountability and care:
Encourage leadership to model healthy behaviors and foster an environment where employees feel safe seeking help without fear of judgment or professional repercussions.
Recognizing the signs of substance use disorders and supporting colleagues in need is both a professional and ethical responsibility. By fostering a culture of compassion and understanding, lawyers can help create a healthier, more sustainable workplace. Early intervention not only benefits the individual struggling but also strengthens the entire legal field, ensuring that the profession’s demanding nature doesn’t come at the cost of personal well-being.
We are not a policing agency. We do not mandate people to seek help or to take the help that we recommend. We do as much as we can to encourage the person to seek relief.
We will ask you the reasons for your concern and other information regarding the attorney, judge, or law student.
We will ask you about others who might provide additional information or corroborate your observations, such as a colleague, a spouse, or a friend, or we may ask you to contact them and have them contact us.
OLAP’s professional staff will assess the information to make a provisional determination about what may be happening.
When you call OLAP concerned about a colleague, we do not contact the disciplinary counsel.
OLAP will decide what help might be appropriate and how to offer it in the best way.
We require corroborating information on a new client before doing anything. This means that we need to speak with others who are also concerned about the person. If we do not obtain corroboration, we do not move forward to intervene we open a confidential file and wait. When we have corroboration, we will often set up and facilitate an intervention. Alternatively, sometimes we provide information to the caller on how to approach the troubled person and that results in a call to OLAP from the person who needs help.
If you are a legal professional who is unhappy, depressed, suffering from substance use disorder, burnout, or stress, and you believe it is affecting your life, the Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program can provide CONFIDENTIAL help. For more information, go to ohiolap.org or call (800) 348-4343.
If you are a judge or magistrate who needs help, contact the Judicial Advisory Group, a peerbased confidential assistance group that helps judges and magistrates with personal and professional issues. For more information, go to www.ohiolap.org/judges or call (800) 348-4343.
Scott R. Mote, Esq.
By Alexis Joseph
It’s wild to think it’s been seven years since we opened our second location, Alchemy Kitchen in Grandview. Back then, we had a vision that still rings true today: to create thoughtful, healthy food that feels good andtastesreally good.
Whether sourced locally or made best somewhere else, we’ve always trusted quality ingredients to lead the way. Ten years ago, we were excited to introduce Columbus to ingredients they had never tried — and at times couldn’t pronounce!
But with time, things change, and should a restaurant menu stay the same after a decade? Maybe it’s our taste buds that have evolved, maybe it’s a nostalgic craving, or maybe we want to redefine what a health cafe really is. But as we started developing our new menu and began to land on new items, we found ourselves gravitating towards quintessential Midwestern flavors: things we ate as Midwest kids.
We asked ourselves, “Is this Midwest healthy?” The phrase sounds like an oxymoron. But here’s the deal not everything has to be “healthified” or rigid. And the Midwest has a lot going for it!
What makes something Midwest healthy, you ask? From a culinary standpoint it’s pretty simple: prioritizing peak season produce, good pickles, not being afraid to use real butter and milk, quality eggs, superfood-infused sauces, homemade bread, fried potatoes, jams, and preserves. Think hearty, honest, wholesome, and not taking it all too seriously. Healthy but not preachy; functional but not boring.
To us, it’s blueberry pie oats, that unexpected crunch on your sandwich, or blended cashews in your buffalo sauce. It’s a side of french fries and avocado ranch
with your salad or strawberry jam with basil lemonade and soda on a hot summer day.
Midwest healthy is more than culinary and nutrition. It’s Midwest hospitality, slowing down to hang with your community, laughing while eating, taking a break away from work, and unplugging. It’s remembering our customer’s favorite order or writing an article for our favorite Bar Association.
We believe everyone deserves a seat at the table. “All eaters welcome” is our mantra, and that’s not just for our nutrition
seeking friends but also for meat and potato Mike! It means being a health cafe that’s not afraid to use butter and cheese from our loving farmers and embracing the region we live in. We believe in balance — yes to green smoothies AND yes to sweet potato waffle fries.
Our menu is still one of the most nutrient-dense in the city, and that’s by design. But this Midwest, belly-led approach allows us to achieve that goal while operating in the land of convenience food (and the former pizza capital of the USA). As premed and dietetics students with functional food
backgrounds, we have always approached our restaurant with a healthcare mindset and are more excited than ever to keep exploring approachable functional foods.
We thrive on good people making real food that’s sourced with integrity, nutritionally supportive, and really fun to eat. Our saying “options for all eaters” is about meeting people where they are. Maybe you’re just starting your wellness journey, maybe you’ve been on it for a decade, or maybe you’re just hungry. Cool with us. Midwest healthy isn’t just what you eat; it’s feeling that Midwestern hospitality totally welcomed as you are (and well-fed).
P.S. Seven years later, we’re still humbled every day by the people who show up who bring their friends for brunch, who grab smoothies after dropoff, and who pop in for lunch between meetings. They’ve helped us grow from a little idea into full-blown neighborhood kitchens with a dedicated following, corporate wellness partnerships, and integrative health services — all while staying true to our Midwest roots. It’s the people who’ve kept us feeling alive and well: our team, our farmers, and our customers.
Please feel free to reach out to learn more about our corporate health services and catering. We’d be honored to serve you.
By Dave Thomas and Katie Wallrabenstein
In an era defined by rapid technological advancement, the practice of criminal law is undergoing profound transformation. For decades, law enforcement agencies have held a technological upper hand and benefited from sophisticated surveillance systems, forensic laboratories, and vast digital databases. But the tide is shifting. Today’s criminal defense attorneys have unprecedented opportunities to
harness technology not only to match the Government’s capabilities but to challenge and reshape how justice is pursued.
This article explores key areas where technology intersects with criminal defense and outlines practical and strategic ways practitioners can leverage it to better advocate for clients and uphold constitutional protections. Summer‘25:CriminalLaw
From mobile phone metadata to social media content, the digital trail left by modern life is increasingly used by law enforcement to investigate and prosecute crimes. Defense attorneys now routinely encounter digital evidence ranging from location tracking and text messages to data collected by smart home devices or vehicle infotainment systems.
Understanding how this evidence is obtained, interpreted, and introduced is vital. For example, while cell site location information (CSLI) can place a defendant in a general area, it lacks the precision often implied in court.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. 296 (2018), underscored the need for a warrant when accessing a person’s data, which reinforced the defense’s role as guardian of privacy and Fourth Amendment rights in the digital era.
Effective advocacy requires not only challenging unlawful data collection but also understanding how digital
evidence can be misrepresented or misunderstood. That means becoming conversant with forensic principles, working alongside forensic experts, and filing appropriate motions to compel discovery, suppress evidence, and limit its use at trial.
One of the most promising developments for defense attorneys is the growing accessibility of digital forensic tools. Rather than accept the prosecution’s analysis at face value, defense teams now have the capability to perform independent examinations of devices, emails, hard drives, and more.
Digital forensics can reveal deleted files, establish alibis, detect tampering, or uncover exculpatory evidence overlooked in initial investigations. Whether using commercial platforms or vetted opensource software, defense attorneys should prioritize collaborating with forensic experts early in a case. These tools are an essential way of
corroborating a defendant’s version of events and providing an effective defense at trial.
Moreover, courts are increasingly supportive of defense efforts to obtain raw data and conduct independent analysis. Strategic use of subpoenas, protective orders, and stipulations can secure critical access while maintaining evidentiary integrity. A robust motion practice in this area can yield tangible trial advantages and improve negotiating leverage.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic decision-making tools used in facial recognition, risk assessment, and predictive policing are now regularly deployed in the criminal justice system. For example, law enforcement agencies use handheld mass spectrometer devices for field testing drugs and voice analysis of 911 calls to evaluate callers’ veracity. Yet the underlying reliability of these systems is often opaque and proprietary, raising significant constitutional concerns.
Defense attorneys must remain alert to the hidden influence of these tools. A risk-assessment algorithm used at arraignment, for example, may carry racial or socioeconomic bias and directly affect pretrial liberty. Facialrecognition software, still prone to error — especially among people of color has already led to wrongful arrests in several high-profile cases.
Legal strategies in this domain should include discovery demands for algorithmic source code, Daubert challenges to the reliability of outputs, and constitutional arguments concerning the right to confront the methodology underlying accusatory evidence. Where appropriate, expert testimony and amicus support can strengthen challenges to unjust or unvetted technological tools.
Technology is not only transforming evidence but also redefining how we present our cases. Effective use of courtroom technology such as digital timelines, video evidence annotation, and 3D reconstructions
can clarify complex facts, highlight inconsistencies, and engage jurors in ways that oral advocacy alone cannot. We have always known about the power of visual aids. Now, presenting them at trial is easier than ever.
Trial presentation software such as TrialPad, OnCue, and PowerPointbased tools allows defense attorneys to build compelling narratives that resonate visually. High-definition displays, synchronized transcript playback, and virtual reality tools can transport jurors to the scene of the incident and offer persuasive and immersive advocacy.
With these new tools come new responsibilities. The ethical duty of competence now extends to technological proficiency. Rule 1.1 of the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct, Comment 8, emphasizes the obligation to stay current with “the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology.” This includes understanding how to protect digital evidence, communicate securely with clients, and safeguard the attorneyclient privilege and duty of confidentiality in an increasingly connected world.
Additionally, tools for managing voluminous discovery especially in white-collar or multi-defendant cases allow for better organization, faster review and retrieval, and more effective use at trial. Secure portals for file sharing, cloud-based collaboration, and document-review platforms are quickly becoming essentials in the defense toolkit. Even better, many can be run from a single laptop by one attorney.
Encryption, secure file transfer, multifactor authentication, and cyberhygiene protocols should be standard practices in every defense firm regardless of size. Tools such as Signal, ProtonMail, and encrypted cloud storage provide reasonable and often low-cost solutions to these ethical imperatives.
Equally pressing is the issue of access. Many indigent clients lack smartphones, stable internet access,
or digital literacy. Further, many lawyers lack access to sophisticated digital tools and forensic assistance. Public defenders and court-appointed counsel must be mindful of these disparities and develop strategies to guarantee access to the same tools used by law enforcement and prosecutors. When necessary, this should include applying to courts for funding of these resources. Meanwhile, courts, bar associations, and defender organizations should continue to advocate for funding that ensures equal access to technology. This is essential to protecting defendants’ right to the effective assistant of counsel.
Technology is not a silver bullet — it is a tool, one that can be wielded to either reinforce existing power imbalances or to challenge them. For too long, the balance of power in the criminal system has favored the prosecution and been bolstered by superior access to investigative and forensic technology.
But today, defense attorneys have the opportunity — and responsibility — to reclaim ground. By embracing forensic science, demanding algorithmic transparency, mastering digital presentation tools, and securing sensitive data, defense lawyers can deliver more effective, ethical, and constitutionally sufficient representation.
Ultimately, leveling the technological playing field is not just about winning acquittals — it is about restoring balance in a constitutional system designed to protect the rights of the accused. As stewards of liberty and due process, criminal defense attorneys must meet this moment with both vigilance and vision.
Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
dthomas@taftlaw com
Katie Wallrabenstein Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP kwallrabenstein@taftlaw com
By Heather Robinson
A septic tank pumper truck backs up to the banks of the Big Darby Creek. The driver looks upriver and down, searching for watercraft; it’s high summer and the creek is typically shore-to-shore with canoeists and kayakers from the rental livery just around the bend. It’s nearly dark, however, and the livery has stopped launching for the day; the polluter has planned well. He opens the truck’s discharge valve and dumps a thousand gallons of raw sewage into the creek.
A repeat tire dumper is three weeks out of prison, where he spent the previous 18-months for dumping tires around Columbus’s Northland neighborhood. He has a fresh load of used tires in the back of his panel van. (He’s learned the hard way that panel vans are superior to pickup trucks in the illegal dumping business.) He pulls his van to the side
of a freeway onramp and hurls twenty tires from the side door — over the guard rail and into the tree line before pulling away: all in under two minutes. Over the course of a decade, despite having spent most of that decade in prison, he is believed to have dumped thousands of tires.
A man with East Coast organized crime connections is sent to Ohio to scout landfill locations for New York trash. As a side gig, he rents a small parcel in Franklinton and charges construction debris haulers a “tipping fee” to dump more than 11,000 tons of debris onto the ground. After making at least 1.8 million dollars in just a few months, he walks away — leaving a 30-foot-high
trash pile over an acre in size rotting beneath the sun.
Environmental crimes occur in all areas of Central Ohio and take many forms. Simply put, environmental crimes are those acts that pollute our water, air, and land. Over the course of nearly 25 years prosecuting this type of behavior, I’ve learned that most environmental crimes are motivated by a combination of greed and laziness. Someone is hired to dispose of waste and, to save the fees required for proper disposal or just the time and effort of driving to the disposal facility, they dump the waste on a powerline easement, into a river, or burn it on a landowner’s field.
Illegaldumpsite,anacreinsizeand30feethigh,inFranklinton
I’ve also found that many polluters live or work close to their dumpsites. In this, environmental crimes are similar to many types of crime: you commit illegal activity in familiar places, where you are comfortable. You pollute in alleys and along roadways you pass every day. If your job is to clean out trash left in vacant apartments, dumpsite proximity to worksites is important because you may have multiple loads to dump. If you’re an unscrupulous junk hauler, a dumpsite along your route home is convenient. One Columbus defendant, who was dumping on a vacant lot in his own neighborhood — and who placed a remote camera on the dumpsite to make sure no one else
was polluting on it admitted to investigators that he chose the location to reduce his daily commute time.
A sometime exception to the proximity rule involves hazardous waste dumping, which often occurs in comparatively remote areas in order to hide the waste and reduce the likelihood of witnesses. However, there have been multiple Franklin County cases in which hazardous waste was dumped in heavily populated areas, including a dozen drums oozing flammable and toxic sludge — dumped in an apartment complex parking lot within ten feet of the Camp Chase Trail.
DrumsofhazardouswastedumpedadjacenttotheCampChaseTrail(visibleinbackground)inColumbus
Tire dumping is a scourge in many neighborhoods. Piles of dumped tires are unsightly, of course, but they are also an expensive and dangerous problem. A common scenario: to undercut competitors, unscrupulous used-tire store owners hire unregistered (“fly-by-night”) tire haulers for less than the cost of proper disposal; the haulers dump the tires and pocket the entire fee. Taxpayers pay for criminals’ greed: every year Franklin County townships and municipalities spend tens of thousands of dollars removing illegally dumped tires from parks, riverbanks, alleys, and rights-of-way.
Human diseases fly on mosquito wings, and tires are remarkable in their ability to incubate mosquito larvae; indeed, nature cannot mimic the perfect incubation conditions found in dumped tires. In Columbus, mosquitoes have been found to carry a host of encephalitis-causing diseases, including West Nile virus, and have the potential to transmit diseases that are sometimes imported into Central Ohio by travelers, including dengue fever, yellow fever, Zika, and malaria.
Water pollution cases can elicit strong emotions in triers of fact; it’s difficult to understand how a person can dump
pollution into a river or reservoir from which their own drinking water is pulled, or on which they fish or boat, or in which they swim. And yet, water pollution cases have been investigated on nearly every major body of water in Central Ohio. Oil and gasoline, ammonia, solvents of every kind, human sewage and animal manure, tires and entire cars — the list of waste dumped into our waterways is endless. To appreciate the harm wrought by water pollution, speak to someone who has volunteered for a riverbank cleanup, or who fishes or kayaks or hunts waterfowl. Or speak with an O jo
and animals resulting from water pollution incidents.
Environmental crimes have a profound impact on the neighborhoods in which we live, as well as the waterways and parks where we recreate and our children play. These are not victimless crimes; they impact the cleanliness of the air we breathe and the water that is necessary to our survival. Investigating and prosecuting environmental crimes is essential to maintaining the vitality of our communities.
Environmental Crimes
Office of Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Shayla D. Favor hrobinson@franklincountyohio.gov
By Matthew L. Jalandoni
The ability to pardon individuals convicted of federal crimes or commute their adjudged sentences is one of greatest exercises of authority and discretion the President of the United States has. Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution states the President “shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences
against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”[1] This pardon power is unlimited. It generally is not reviewable by courts, and an amendment to remove or otherwise modify that power would have to be passed by two-thirds of both chambers of Congress and ratified by threefourths of the states.[2]
While Presidents have long exercised this authority to pardon civil rights activists like Marcus Garvey, political allies such as Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, infamous labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa, and even former President Richard Nixon, there have, perhaps, never been any more scrutinized pardons than those issued within weeks in December 2024 and January 2025 by two presidents. Outgoing President Joe Biden began the string of questionable decisions on
legal scholars and political commentators alike.
December 1, 2024, when he pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, for convictions of falsifying a form in purchasing a weapon and tax evasion. This came after President Biden previously stated he would not use his authority to pardon his son.[3] Then on January 20, 2025, with just hours remaining in his Presidency, the White House announced President Biden had preemptively pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, former Representative Liz Cheney, and several members of Congress and the Biden family.[4] Such pardons are unprecedented and their validity has been the subject of debate between
Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump, never one to shy away from criticizing his successor and predecessor, denounced the preemptive pardons on his first day in office.[5] But then, just hours later in his second term, President Trump issued a blanket pardon for the more than 1,500 individuals convicted of federal crimes related to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, calling them “patriots” and “hostages.”[6]
Each respective president’s pardons during those months drew widespread attention and criticism, shining a spotlight on this extreme authority and discretion regarding federal crimes. However, most crimes fall under state jurisdiction. As such, only governors possess the power to pardon criminals convicted of traditionally state crimes, such as murder, rape, theft, and assault, effectively wiping their slate clean — potentially, acting as a form of mercy[7] and acknowledging that punishment has been sufficiently rendered. There are many critics of the
pardon power both as it applies federally and at the state level.[8] Nonetheless, the pardon power can operate as a powerful form of forgiveness that allows for a second chance at life.
The Ohio Governor’s pardon power comes from Article III, Section 11 of the Ohio Constitution. Those powers largely mirror the President’s power from the U.S. Constitution, but with one noticeable difference: the Governor may only grant a pardon to a person who has already been convicted of a crime.[14] The Governor enjoys immense pardon power, but it is often constricted by political concerns when exercising such authority.[15] Because of these external checks inherent in politics, past Ohio governors have used their pardon power in a variety of ways, differing in both quantity and application without much scholarship or research into the circumstances underpinning those decisions.
Whatever the correct approach is to pardoning convicted criminals, former
Winbush, who went from having a scholarship to play basketball at Ohio University to state prison for two-anda-half years in the early 1990s.[12] Since his pardon in 2011, Winbush now coaches others through the process, which can be emotional as well as very heavy in paperwork.[13] Governors are not immune from criticism for their use of the pardon power. Former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin issued 428 pardons following his defeat to current Governor Andy Beshear, including pardons for several violent offenders, such as “a man who murdered his parents at age 16.”[9] This example infuriated Kentuckians[10] and illustrates a shortcoming at least in practice — of the gubernatorial pardon process. Short of seemingly inexplicable instances like that, the pardon process can offer a second chance at life for those deserving based on a willingness to improve themselves and make amends and a demonstration of their desire to contribute and help others. Greg Winbush of Columbus is one example of a man who embodied these characteristics and is now living a life free of the stigma associated with a criminal conviction.[11] Former Governor Ted Strickland pardoned
Ohio Governors have granted several noteworthy pardons and other clemency decisions that were met with criticism — sometimes well-deserved. For example, former Governor Richard Celeste commuted the sentence of eight individuals on death row, four of whom constituted all the women on death row in the state.[16] Another famous (or infamous) grant of clemency includes former Governor James Rhodes’ pardon of legendary boxing promoter Don King who was convicted of first-degree manslaughter in 1966. [17] This pardon illustrates the aforementioned political and societal pressures inherent in the pardon process, as King possessed strong support from civil rights leaders Jesse Jackson and Loretta Scott King along with the support of the infamous former owner of the Cleveland Browns, Art Modell, all of whom wrote letters asking Governor Rhodes to grant King’s pardon.[18]
Governor Mike DeWine has made pardons a priority of his administration through its Expedited Pardon Project. [19] Since taking office in 2019, Governor DeWine has 182 issued
pardons.[20] His predecessor, Governor John Kasich, however, issued only 86 pardons during his first six years in office.[21] And Governor Ted Strickland ordered 290 pardons many more than his predecessor, Governor Bob Taft, who issued only 48. [22] Though gubernatorial pardons must be recorded and presented to the General Assembly,[23] few former governors have provided context or explanation for their decision making process.[24] In fact, only former Governor Michael DiSalle has offered a true glimpse of what goes into a governor’s decision-making process when deciding to grant or deny a pardon.[25] In his book, The Power of Life and Death, Governor DiSalle identified and explained the complex “legal, moral, and political factors that went into each clemency decision.”[26] But, DiSalle’s detailed sharing of his own personal conflicts has been the exception rather than the rule. As such, Ohioans are most often left only with media portrayals of gubernatorial clemency decisions and must decipher for themselves the real reasons and true motives that underlie the governor’s decision.
Despite the Governor’s absolute power in granting pardons, unlike the President’s, that power is not wholly unconstrained. For example, Chapter 2967 of the Ohio Revised Code outlines certain requirements that precede a governor’s pardon. The process typically includes filing an application with the adult parole authority, which conducts a thorough investigation into the appropriateness of a pardon,[27] notice requirements[28] (to victims, judges, and prosecutors who tried the convict’s case), and a formal recommendation by the adult parole authority to the governor, who then has the ultimate discretion to grant or deny a pardon.[29] With this discretion, the governor also has the power to make a pardon conditional by requiring a person to meet certain criteria before a pardon is granted.[30]
Correction filed a complaint alleging that the aforementioned commutations by Governor Celeste of eight inmates’ sentences and one pardon were void in violation of the Ohio Constitution because of the governor’s failure to comply with the procedural mandates of R.C. 2967.[31] Upon examining the Ohio Constitution, the Court held that the General Assembly is authorized to “prescribe procedural prerequisites to the application for executive pardons.”[32] This power, however, is specifically limited to the granting of pardons; the General Assembly has no such power to prescribe procedures for commutations and reprieves.[33] Thus, an application must comply with procedural requirements for the pardon to be valid, but the governor ultimately has final decision-making authority.
Interestingly, whether the Ohio General Assembly possesses the authority to enact procedural requirements applicable to the pardon process was not decided until 1994. In State ex rel. Mauer v. Sheward, the Ohio Attorney General and Director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and
After receiving a pardon, most inmates’ primary concern is the sealing or expungement of their criminal records, which one would naturally assume follows from a pardon, since a pardon “wipes out both the punishment and the guilt of the offender.”[34] But the Supreme Court of Ohio has made clear that this is not the case, holding that
the sealing of a criminal record does not automatically flow from a pardon.
[35] Similarly, the Court has held that a trial court lacks the inherent authority to seal the records of a conviction when the conviction has been erased by a pardon.[36]
the challenge of providing a better and more efficient pardon process that aims to balance public welfare and safety with the need to give a second chance to those deserving, the hope is our state avoids the pardon controversies that have befallen the federal system and other states.
Today, Governor DeWine’s Expedited Pardon Project aims “to reduce challenges surrounding a clemency application in Ohio for people meeting certain criteria.”[37] After the first year of its operation, however, Governor DeWine expressed his disappointment with the program’s results, revealing that many more people likely qualify than those who have applied.[38]
Nonetheless, the governor’s commitment to expediting the pardon process demonstrates the inherent procedural difficulties that accompany the process while also bringing pardons and the clemency process to the forefront of political discussion. While some will inevitably question a governor’s motivations and reasoning for granting pardons, they are unlikely to ever face the same scrutiny that those Presidential pardons faced earlier this year. And with Ohio now taking on
Matthew L. Jalandoni
Flannery|Georgalis, LLC mjalandoni@flannerygeorgalis.com
[1] U S Const , art II, § 2, cl 1
[2] Constitutional Amendment Process, U S National Archives, https://www archives gov/federalregister/constitution
[3] Meredith Deliso, President Biden Has No Plans of Pardoning Son Hunter Biden, White House Says, ABC News (Nov 7, 2024), https://abcnews go com/Politics/biden-not-pardonson-hunter-biden/story?id=115620314
[4] Peter Baker & Michael Shear, Biden in Final Hours Pardons Relatives and Others to Thwart Trump Reprisals, The New York Times (Jan 23, 2025), https://www nytimes com/2025/01/20/us/politics/biden -pardons-fauci-milley-cheney-jan-6 html
[5] Zeke Miller, Colleen Long, & Alanna Durkin Richer, Biden Pardons His Siblings and Their Spouses on His Way Out of the White House, AP News (Jan. 20, 2025), https://apnews.com/article/biden-pardons-familytrump-white-houscaee326c4723a4ba6d972f7daf750a0b.
[6] Carrie Johnson, Trump Offers Long-Promised Pardons to Some 1,500 January 6 Rioters, NPR (Jan. 20, 2025), https://www.npr.org/2025/01/20/g-s136809/trump-pardons-january-6-riot.
[7] Colleen Shogan, The History of the Pardon Power,
White House Historical Association (Dec 2, 2020), https://www whitehousehistory org/the-history-of-thepardon-power
[8] See, e g , Dan Kobil, Do the Paperwork or Die: Clemency, Ohio Style?, 52 Ohio St L J 655, 683 (1991) (explaining how to potentially fix Ohio’s pardon and clemency power); Sanford Levinson, Our Undemocratic Constitution 111-13 (Oxford Univ Press 2006) (criticizing and explaining the weakness inherent in the federal pardon power)
[9] Kayla Epstein, Defeated GOP Governor Pardoned Violent Criminals in a Spree Lawyers Are Calling an “Atrocity of Justice,” Washington Post (Dec 12, 2019), https://www washingtonpost com/politics/2019/12/12/d efeated-gop-governor-pardoned-violent-criminalsspree-lawyers-are-calling-an-atrocity-justice
[10] Id
[11] Sarah Donaldson, Ohio Man, Granted a Pardon Years Ago, Now Coaches Others Through Process, Statehouse News Bureau (July 15, 2024), https://www.statenews.org/government-politics/202407-15/ohio-man-granted-a-pardon-years-ago-nowcoaches-others-through-process.
[12] He Gives Others a Second Chance, Columbus Dispatch (May 8, 2011), https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2011/05/08/hegives-others-second-chance/23359546007.
[13] Donaldson, supra note 11.
[14] Ohio Const., art. III, § 11.
[15] See Kobil, supra note 8.
[16] Jim Provance, Celeste’s Biggest Regret? Leaving Death Row Intact, The Blade (Apr. 5, 2023), available at https://www.toledoblade.com/local/politics/2023/04/05 /celeste-s-biggest-regret-leaving-death-rowintact/stories/20230405118.
[17] Don King Pardoned, NY Times (Jan. 5, 1983), https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/05/sports/sportspeople-don-king-pardoned.html.
[18] Id.
[19] Ohio Governor's Expedited Pardon Project, Ohio.gov
https://governor.ohio.gov/priorities/expedited-pardonproject#:~:text=Governor%20DeWine%20created%20th e%20Ohio,who%20have%20not%20been%20rehabilitat ed (accessed Apr. 18, 2025).
[20] Ohio Governor’s Expedited Pardon Project Nears 200 Pardons on Fifth Anniversary, Ohio.gov (Dec. 12,
2024), https://governor ohio gov/media/news-andmedia/ohio-governors-expedited-pardon-projectnears-200-pardons-on-fifth-anniversary (numbers current as of Dec 12, 2024)
[21] Ohio Restoration of Rights & Record Relief, Ohio Restoration of Rights Project (Jan 19, 2024), https://ccresourcecenter org/state-restorationprofiles/ohio-restoration-of-rights-pardonexpungement-sealing
[22] Id
[23] Ohio Const , art III, § 11
[24] See Kobil, supra note 8 at 657
[25] Id at 671
[26] Id at 671-72
[27] R C 2967 07
[28] R C 2967 12; R C 2930 162 (requiring the governor to notify the victim of a violent crime that the offender has applied for “pardon, commutation of sentence, or reprieve ” The notice must be supplied at least 30 days before a decision to grant the pardon).
[29] R.C. 2967.07.
[30] R.C. 2967.04(A).
[31] State ex rel. Mauer v. Sheward, 71 Ohio St.3d 513, 519 (1994) (holding that “any grant of a pardon must be based on an application that complies with the procedural prerequisites”).
[32] Id.
[33] Id. at 521.
[34] Kobil, supra note 8, at 660-61.
[35] State v. Boykin, 2013-Ohio-4582, ¶ 35.
[36] State v. Radcliffe, 2015-Ohio-235, ¶ 37 (holding that “a court lacks the authority to seal a criminal record of a pardoned offender who does not meet applicable statutory requirements for sealing the record”).
[37] Ohio Governor’s Expedited Pardon Process, Moritz College of Law, https://www.ohioexpeditedpardon.org, (accessed Apr. 21, 2025).
[38] Ohio Governor Disappointed by 1st Year Pardon Plan Results, AP News (Jan. 22, 2021), https://apnews.com/general-newsf7ab8faa24593383730c9abfc5c4041f.
By Lizett Schreiber
The phrase “due process” has been in the news a lot lately. The idea that everyone deserves to be given notice of the accusations against them and an opportunity to refute those accusations is a bedrock of our country’s founding principles. Due process is vital
throughout the entirety of someone’s criminal case, including effective assistance in negotiations, knowing and intelligent pleas, fair trials, and sentencing. The jurisprudence surrounding the principle that prosecutors must disclose exculpatory evidence to the defense has evolved and expanded over the years. At this point even the general public is largely familiar with the standard articulated in Brady v.Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), which states, “suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment.” One aspect of Brady jurisprudence that continues to evolve is: Who is subject to Brady disclosures?
In 1963, the United States Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brady v. Maryland established that prosecutorial suppression of evidence favorable to the accused violates due process where the evidence is material to guilt or punishment regardless of the prosecutor’s good or bad faith.
The Brady decision established three essential elements for a violation of due process claim under the 14th Amendment: (1) the evidence must be favorable to the accused, either because it is exculpatory or impeaching; (2) the evidence must have been suppressed by the State, either willfully or inadvertently; and (3) prejudice must have ensued from the suppression.
The Brady decision was an early marker of a wave of civil rights expansions by the Warren Court, along with Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), which guaranteed the right to legal counsel for indigent defendants; Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), which established the right to remain silent and the right to counsel during police interrogation; and Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), which required reasonable, articulable suspicion of a crime in order to detain someone.
Following Brady, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded and clarified the prosecutor’s disclosure obligations in several key decisions. In Giglio v.
United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972), the Court extended Brady to include material impeachment evidence, recognizing that evidence affecting witness credibility can fall within the Brady rule. United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97 (1976), established that prosecutors must disclose material exculpatory evidence even absent a specific defense request. In United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667 (1985), the Court defined “materiality” as a “reasonable probability” that the result would have been different had the evidence been disclosed.
evidence held by their investigating officers is shared with them and the defense.
Ohio adopted the Kyles v. Whitley standard, indicating a prosecutor has “‘a duty to learn of any favorable evidence known to the others acting on the government’s behalf in the case, including the police.’” (Emphasis in original.) State v. Sanders, 92 Ohio St.3d 245, 261 (2001), quoting Kyles at 437.
While there is a litany of jurisprudence surrounding all three prongs of the Brady test, the question of to whom Brady applies appears time and again, even as recently as this year.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419 (1995), held prosecutors responsible for disclosing favorable evidence known to others acting on the government’s behalf, including police. Prosecutors are assumed to have some control over their investigations and are ultimately responsible for ensuring material
However, limitations, to what evidence is considered held by the government, do exist. The Sixth Circuit recognized in Goff v. Bagley, 601 F.3d 445, 476 (6th Cir. 2010), that “a prosecutor has no obligation under Brady to learn of information possessed by other government agencies having no involvement in the case or prosecution at issue.” In the Goff case, a cooperating witness in a state case also had a separate federal case pending. While Goff argued this was material, exculpatory impeachment evidence, the Sixth Circuit found there was no indication the witness’s federal plea was predicated on his cooperation in the state case or that the state was
even aware of his federal case. Therefore, the Court found no Brady violation where his federal plea was not disclosed.
For prosecutors, Brady jurisprudence in Ohio emphasizes several key practices:
More recently, however, the Sixth Circuit made clear that governmentrelated agencies involved in the prosecution at issue continue to have obligations to turn over notes, reports, or other potentially exculpatory evidence. The recently decided case of Clark v. Louisville-Jefferson Cty. Metro Govt., 130 F.4th 571 (6th Cir. 2025), confirmed that police’s and prosecutor’s obligations to turn over evidence extend to forensic scientists, even in the absence of bad faith. Through discovery in a subsequent § 1983 case, Clark’s co-defendant, Hardin, discovered a forensic scientist’s “observation notes” written when examining hairs that were later used to determine a match to Hardin. These notes suggested that the hair found at the scene might not have matched Hardin’s hair sample in various ways. The Sixth Circuit determined that Brady disclosure obligations covering police officers must also cover forensic examiners.
Establish clear communication protocols with law enforcement: Prosecutors are responsible for disclosing exculpatory evidence known to police and other government agencies related to the case at issue. Clear disclosure expectations for all investigators can help ensure compliance.
Implement a robust discovery process: Brady obligations overlap with Ohio Criminal Rule 16 obligations. Ensuring thorough review of case files and erring on the side of disclosing evidence will go far to prevent future Brady claims.
Document disclosure decisions: When determining whether evidence is exculpatory or material, prosecutors should document their reasoning. This documentation can prove crucial if a Brady claim later arises.
For defense attorneys, Ohio’s Brady jurisprudence suggests several strategic considerations:
Make specific discovery requests: While Brady obligations for evidence material to guilt or punishment exist regardless of defense requests, specific requests for potentially exculpatory categories of evidence in a bill of particulars can remind the prosecution of their obligations and create a record for later appeals.
Seek court intervention for delayed disclosure: When exculpatory evidence is disclosed late, request continuances that allow you to properly investigate and prepare your defense.
preparing for an evidentiary hearing. Strategic filing of Daubert motions can bring this evidence to light early on and prevent a mistrial or wrongful conviction.
The evolution of Brady in Ohio reflects a commitment to fundamental fairness in criminal proceedings. By understanding these nuances and implementing best practices, Ohio’s criminal justice system can better fulfill the promise of due process that Brady established nearly 60 years ago.
ett Schreiber o Justice and Policy Center hreiber@ohiojpc.org
When possible, request a Daubert hearing: While the prosecution is required to turn over exculpatory evidence from forensic scientists, they are more likely to receive these exculpatory notes when
Below are common terms to know when discussing marijuana:
Cannabis: The plant species that includes marijuana and hemp.
Marijuana: Cannabis that contains 0.3% or more THC; primarily used for recreational and medicinal purposes.
Hemp: Cannabis that contains less than 0.3% THC; primarily used for industrial and nutritional purposes.
Hashish: A potent form of cannabis made from the dried and pressed resin of a cannabis plant.
Cannabinoids: Chemical compounds found in the cannabis plant, including well-known substances like THC and CBD.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC): The primary psychoactive chemical in marijuana that produces the “high”; also known as Delta-9 THC.
Cannabidiol (CBD): The nonpsychoactive compound in marijuana known for its therapeutic benefits.
Delta-8: A cannabinoid that occurs in relatively low quantities in the cannabis plant and, therefore, is often synthetically developed through a process of chemically converting CBD into Delta-9; generally thought to be less potent than regular Delta-9 THC.
Under Ohio’s new recreational marijuana laws, Ohioans 21 years of age and older can now legally do the following:
Possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis in any form except extract and up to 15 grams of extract.[3]
Purchase 2.5 ounces of cannabis from a licensed dispensary per day.[4]
Grow up to six marijuana plants
for personal use, with a limit of 12 plants per residence.[5]
There are no limitations on how marijuana may be consumed. As such, recreational marijuana can be purchased at licensed dispensaries in various forms, including plant material, extracts, edibles, vaporizers, drinks, and more.
Despite recreational marijuana now being legal in Ohio, it is important for individuals to remember the following:
No one is allowed to sell marijuana without an appropriate license from the Division of Cannabis Control.
Purchasing marijuana outside of a licensed dispensary is unlawful.
Possessing marijuana in excess of the allowable limits is prohibited. Marijuana possession offenses range from minor misdemeanors to second-degree felonies depending on the amount of marijuana.[6]
Consuming marijuana in public is prohibited.[7]
Consuming marijuana while in a vehicle, boat, or airplane or while on a bike is prohibited.[8]
Those under 21 years of age cannot lawfully possess or consume recreational marijuana.
Local municipalities may adopt ordinances to prohibit adult-use dispensaries. As of May 27, 2025, 133 Ohio municipalities and townships (out of 924 incorporated municipalities and 1,307 townships) have passed moratoriums.[9]
Individuals may not bring cannabis from another state into Ohio.
Employers are allowed to have work-place policies prohibiting marijuana.
Landlords are allowed to prohibit marijuana on their properties.
Possession and distribution of
marijuana is still prohibited by federal law.
Additionally, operating a vehicle under the influence (“OVI”) of marijuana remains illegal in Ohio.[10] There are two types of OVIs in Ohio: (1) OVI Impaired and (2) OVI Per Se.
OVI Impaired: OVI Impaired is governed by R.C. 4511.19(A)(1), which states: “No person shall operate any vehicle, streetcar, or trackless trolley within this state, if, at the time of the operation . . . [t]he person is under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or a combination of them.”
Indicators of marijuana impairment include, but are not limited to, the following: bloodshot eyes, body tremors, disorientation, euphoria, eyelid tremors, impaired perception of time and distance, odor of burnt marijuana, paranoia, relaxed inhibitions, sedation, dilated pupils, and lack of convergence in the eyes.[11]
OVI Per Se: OVI Per Se is governed by R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)(j) (vii), which prohibits a driver from having a specific concentration of marijuana or its metabolites in their system, regardless of actual impairment. Specifically, a driver may not have 2 ng/mL or more of marijuana in their blood and/or 10 ng/mL or more of marijuana in their urine. The duration that marijuana remains in a person’s system varies depending on several factors, such as frequency of use, level of THC in the marijuana, metabolism, and hydration. Generally speaking, marijuana may be detected in blood up to 12 hours after last use; in saliva up to 24 hours after last use; in urine anywhere between 1 day and 30 days after last use; and in hair up to 90 days after last use. Accordingly, drivers should be cognizant of OVI Per Se limits because, even if they did not recently use marijuana, they can still be charged with OVI Per Se if the marijuana is still in their system and reaches the statutory limits.
OVI laws recently changed in Ohio, with “Liv’s Law” going into effect on April 9, 2025. Under the new law, law enforcement officers may now collect oral fluid samples from drivers suspected of OVI. Similar to blood, urine, and breath tests, if a driver refuses to take an oral fluid test, they will incur penalties under Ohio’s implied consent laws, including suspension of their driver’s license. Additionally, the new law increased minimum fines for OVI charges by $190. Moreover, the new law reduced license reinstatement fees by $160. Further, the new law altered the framework surrounding license suspensions and driving privileges for first and second OVI offenses within 10 years, particularly if an individual has a previous physical control conviction. Finally, the new law increased the maximum fine for aggravated vehicular homicide to $25,000 and created a new four-tier system of mandatory prison terms based on prior offenses.[12]
When investigating a driver for OVI based on marijuana, Ohio law requires a police officer to have an independent factual basis giving
reasonable suspicion that the individual is operating a vehicle under the influence of marijuana or a prohibited concentration of marijuana in their system before conducting a field sobriety test. Further, a police officer must have probable cause that an individual is operating a vehicle under the influence of marijuana or a prohibited concentration of marijuana in their system before conducting chemical tests and/or arresting an individual for OVI. Importantly, the odor of raw marijuana in a vehicle does not, alone, establish probable cause.[13]
With the legalization of recreational marijuana in Ohio, individuals with marijuana-related offenses on their record may seek relief through record sealing, expungement, or a pardon, among others:
While the terms record “sealing” and “expungement” are often used interchangeably, these remedies are distinct under Ohio law. On the one hand,
expungement offers almost complete destruction of a record, with law enforcement often being the only entity retaining access. On the other hand, sealing removes the record from public view so that it no longer appears on most background checks, though some government and law enforcement agencies can continue to access it for certain purposes.[14]
Pardon: A pardon is one of several clemency options available to the Governor and serves to release a person from the entire punishment prescribed for an offense and from any continued consequences resulting from a conviction. The Ohio Governor’s Expedited Pardon Project was developed to assist with pardon applications for certain persons with certain types of convictions who have completed their sentences and been without additional criminal difficulties for a decade or longer.[15]
While this is an exciting time for cannabis enthusiasts and cannabis curious individuals alike, various bills have advanced in the Ohio General Assembly that would make significant changes — and even repeal — various provisions of the new marijuana laws. However, as of May 2025, none of the proposed changes have yet become law.[16] Nonetheless, practitioners should strive to keep up to date since recreational marijuana is likely to remain a divisive issue.
To conclude, I’ll let you answer for yourself whether you think marijuana is a drug or a plant, but here is comedian Katt Williams’ insightful take on it (edited to remove expletives): “[Weed] ain’t no drug, it’s just a plant. It just grows like that. And if you just so happen to set it on fire, there are some effects . . . . ”
Kelsey A. Kornblut
[1] The new adult use cannabis control statutes can be found in Chapter 3780 of the Ohio Revised Code and Chapter 1301:18 of the Ohio Administrative Code.
[2] See Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Cannabis Control, DCC Update by the Numbers, https://com.ohio.gov/divisions-andprograms/cannabis-control/licensee-resources/whatwe-do/dcc-update (accessed June 26, 2025).
[3] See R.C. 3780.36(B)(1).
[4] See R.C. 3780.36(A)(3).
[5] See R.C. 3780.29(A)(1).
[6] See R.C. 3780.99(A); R.C. 3780.36(B)(1); R.C. 2925 11(C)(3)
[7] See R C 3780 99(B)
[8] See R C 3780 36(D)(2)
[9] See The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, Local Moratoriums for Ohio Adult Use Marijuana Operators, https://moritzlaw.osu.edu/faculty-and-research/drugenforcement-and-policy-center/research-andgrants/policy-and-data-analyses/ohio-marijuanamoratoriums (accessed June 16, 2025).
[10] See R.C. 3780.36(D)(1).
[11] See National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Participant Manual 398 (2023), available at https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/202303/15911-SFST Participant Manual 2023-tag.pdf; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement Instructor Guide 178 (2023), available at https://www nhtsa gov/sites/nhtsa gov/files/202304/15941-2023 ARIDE Instructor%20Guide-tag pdf
[12] For a chart outlining the most up to date OVI penalties, see the Ohio Judicial Conference Tools and Bench Aids, available at https://www.ohiojudges.org/Resources/tools-andbench-aids.
[13] See State v. Oliver, 2023-Ohio-1550, ¶ 80 (10th Dist.).
[14] The following resources are available for individuals seeking to seal or expunge their record: Opportunity Port (https://opportunityport.org), the Second Chance Project (https://ohiojpc.org/ourwork/second-chance), clinics through Legal Aid (https://www.lasco.org), and self-help resources offered through the Franklin County Municipal Court (https://municipalcourt.franklincountyohio.gov/selfhel p).
[15] Eligibility for the Ohio Governor’s Expedited Pardon Project can be found at https://www.ohioexpeditedpardon.org.
[16] See, e g , S B 56 and H B 160 (136th General Assembly) For an interesting read on whether the Ohio Constitution allows legislators to override the will of the voters, see Derek Clinger, Constitutional Limits on Legislative Overrides of Statutory Initiatives in Ohio, 76 Case W Res L Rev (forthcoming 2026), available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm? abstract id=5208456.
On January 8, 2025, Ohio joined 24 other states and the District of Columbia in abolishing driver’s license suspensions based solely on a driver’s failure to pay outstanding fines or court costs. The immediate impact of this law, which originated as House Bill 29, is that courts can no longer impose driver’s license suspensions as penalties for drivers who do not make
requisite payments to the court. Governor Mike DeWine’s decision to sign House Bill 29 into law was met with resounding praise from legislators, policymakers, and state officials on both sides of the aisle.
Maha Jweied, CEO of the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice, captured the overall sentiment in her statement
to the Fines and Fees Justice Center:
“For years, debt-related driver’s license suspensions blocked thousands of Ohioans from finding stable jobs and businesses from accessing quality talent. Thanks to the leadership of the legislature, advocates, and Governor DeWine, House Bill 29 removes these unnecessary barriers to employment and hiring a significant win for business and communities. We applaud this impactful legislation that will help keep Ohioans on the road, bolster the state’s workforce, and break costly cycles of poverty and punishment.”[1]
Effective as of April 9, 2025, the new law also prohibits courts from suspending licenses for drug abuse, a minor offense under the Ohio Revised Code, so long as the licensee did not use their vehicle in the commission of the crime and was not convicted of the manufacture or sale of drugs. Additionally, obligors whose licenses were suspended due to their failure to pay child support will be allowed to move the court for limited driving privileges.
overstated. A suspension based on financial circumstances may have been caused by a licensee’s failure to pay a court fine or fee or the surrendering of their license in lieu of bail or to guarantee their appearance for subsequent court dates.[2] According to the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, “approximately 60% of all Ohio driver’s license suspensions are based on a person’s failure to pay money owed to a court, to the Ohio BMV, or to a private third-party.”[3] The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland estimated that, “if just half” of these licensees complied with these suspensions, then “the impact statewide could result in a potential loss of over 830,000 working or work-seeking individuals from the labor force.”[4] For decades, the state’s enforcement of debt-related suspensions has perpetuated financial hardship on individuals as well as at a macro level. This new law marks a positive shift in the state’s attitude toward what legal consequences should — and should not — exist for Ohioans unable to pay outstanding court costs and fines.
The negative implications of driver’s license suspensions cannot be All debt-related drivers’ license suspensions should have been
eliminated by May 9, 2025. The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) mailed correspondence to affected licensees notifying them of the change in the law. The letters also included a breakdown of the steps that a licensee must take to restore their driving privileges. A licensee can also check the status of their license by reviewing their unofficial driving records through the BMV’s Online Services portal.
There is, however, one potential hangup in this process that licensees cannot control. A court order suspending a driver’s license does not necessarily provide the reason for the suspension. To determine which suspensions are debt-related, the BMV will have to inquire with each court as to the grounds for the suspensions.[5]
This may be time-consuming, and licensees are encouraged to refrain from driving until they confirm with the BMV that their suspension is among those being lifted. Additionally, licensees should continue making payments as part of their license reinstatement plans until the BMV officially confirms via correspondence that their suspension has been lifted.
Proponents of the new law are optimistic that, over time, it will reduce the extent to which Ohioans can be punished for having limited financial means.
Gemarro
The Law Offices of Kevin W Zamora olgemarro@gmail.com
1 Fines and Fees Justice Center, Press Release: Advocates Applaud Legislature and Governor DeWine for Reducing Debt-Related License Suspensions with Passage of HB 29 (Jan 8, 2025), https://finesandfeesjusticecenter org/2025/01/08/press -release-advocates-applaud-legislature-and-governordewine-for-reducing-debt-related-drivers-licensesuspensions-with-passage-of-hb-29
2 Ohio Legislative Service Commission, Bill Analysis, H B 29 (135th General Assembly) (Dec 18, 2024), https://www legislature ohio gov/download? key=24254
3 The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, Road to Nowhere: Debt-Related Driver’s License Suspensions in Ohio (Sept 26, 2022), https://lasclev org/roadtonowherereport
4 Kyle D Fee & Brian A Mikelbank, Providing Labor Market Context for Debt-Related Driver’s License Suspensions in Ohio, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (Feb 28, 2024), https://doi org/10 26509/frbc-cd-20240228
5 Rachel Dissell, Ohio Is Lifting Old Driver’s License Suspensions for Unpaid Fines Here’s What to Know, ABC News 5 Cleveland (Mar 20, 2025), https://www news5cleveland com/news/the-marshallproject/ohio-is-lifting-old-drivers-license-suspensionsfor-unpaid-fines-heres-what-to-know
